While special packages will be in the back of the minds of the seasoned travelers or even the first-time tourists, some would prefer their own itinerary that holds leisure travel with a plan of their own in the summer. Or for that matter any time during the year.

Airlines too are getting their acts together to entice the tourists with some of the best services under their wings. Lufthansa and British Midland International (bmi) recently took Saudi journalists on a fam-trip to provide firsthand experience of the products of Lufthansa and bmi, while also enabling the press team to get to know Europe’s two biggest aviation hubs — London and Frankfurt.

Stefan Loecherbach, director Lufthansa and British Midland for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, who was one of our hosts during the trip, put the airlines commitment to the Saudi market succinctly.

“With the introduction of our wide-body Airbus featuring a three-class cabin and the new service to Jeddah, Lufthansa underlines again its strong commitment to the Saudi market, offering unparalleled choice and travel flexibility. Our resolve is to provide high quality products and to make them available to more customers in more places in the Kingdom,” he said.

Lufthansa and its affiliate British Midland International jointly operate 36 flights a week from Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam to Frankfurt, London and Munich. They provide first choice travel flexibility to customers in the Kingdom. Step by step Lufthansa increased its presence in Saudi Arabia over the past years. In 2009 the German airline upgraded its services from Riyadh and Jeddah to a daily flight on each route. In April 2010 it introduced three weekly flights between the Saudi capital and its Munich gateway in southern Germany and at the end of October 2011, Lufthansa will launch a three weekly Jeddah-Munich service. Hence Lufthansa will be operating 24 weekly flights from the Kingdom to Germany.

Lufthansa’s subsidiary and partner British Midland International operates nonstop services to London-Heathrow from Riyadh (6 weekly), Jeddah (3 weekly) and Dammam (3 weekly).

Apart from providing direct flights to these major European hubs, Lufthansa and its British affiliate provide lean connections to over 130 destinations across Europe and over 200 cities worldwide via their gateways in Frankfurt, Munich and London. Customers can fly to 21 destinations in North America nonstop from Frankfurt or Munich. Many more points are served in cooperation with code share partner United Airlines.

“With Lufthansa and British Midland International customers departing from or traveling to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam benefit from unparalleled choice and travel flexibility, which allows them for example to fly from Riyadh to London on a nonstop British Midland flight and return on a Lufthansa flight straight from Munich or Frankfurt,” Loecherbach said.

Indeed, thanks to the group’s network synergies between Lufthansa and its European affiliates, a return to the original port of arrival in Europe is not required for the return to Saudi Arabia. Even a complex travel itinerary, including travel within Europe, can stay within the Lufthansa Group, with simple ticketing and joint loyalty programs.

“Saudi Arabia and other markets in the Middle East are of key strategic importance to Lufthansa. The market environment is challenging and there is fierce competition, but we are recording healthy growth and our outlook on the future is optimistic,” said Joachim Steinbach, Lufthansa’s vice president Middle East, Africa and Southeast Europe.

In total Lufthansa and British Midland serve nine destinations in the Gulf. In addition to the Saudi flight plan, Lufthansa flies double daily to Dubai. Daily services are operated to Abu Dhabi, Doha, Kuwait and Muscat. Bahrain is served five times a week.

The main focus of this media tour was to give a taste of the warm welcome that awaits first and business class travelers at Frankfurt. On arriving at Frankfurt, Lufthansa Business Class passengers and status customers can relax at the exclusive Welcome Lounge. The facility, which opened in January 2009, is geared to the needs of travelers arriving on long-haul flights. A comprehensive breakfast and snack buffet, is served in comfort areas and quiet zones. The modern shower area on the lower level is one of the Welcome Lounge’s most exclusive features. Its 28 high-end showers allow passengers to get refreshed for the day ahead. A concierge is on hand to allocate shower facilities and coordinate customer wishes, including an ironing service for HON Circle members, first class guests and senators. Passengers with onward flights can choose from a number of first class, senator and business class lounges.

Lufthansa is currently introducing its new first class, which will take travel comfort to a new level thanks to a number of cabin innovations, like Lufthansa’s new air humidification system (available on the A380) and measures taken in order to reduce sound emissions in first class — the quietest first class among airlines.

Lufthansa officials said that the new, world’s quietest, first class experience has been developed in close collaboration with Lufthansa passengers. More than 2,000 surveys and ten workshops were conducted during development phases, with customers actively involved in the implementation of the concept, assessing the seats and integrating their suggestions and comments into final designs.

Sound-absorbing curtains have been developed and installed to partition off the rest of the cabin, while special sound-insulating material in the aircraft’s outer skin and sound-absorbing carpeting blocks footstep noise, ensuring the world’s quietest first class cabin.

It also boasts of a more open space and light, more comfort and more entertainment options, all developed by Lufthansa Technik, the world’s leading provider of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul.

The media were told that a concept with separate cabins was deliberately rejected because at numerous customer events, in inflight tests and surveys, Lufthansa passengers expressed a clear preference for an open-plan design.

But despite this, passengers in first class can determine the degree of individual privacy they have, thanks to a flexible privacy screen.

Instead of just a washroom with a lavatory, first class passengers find a luxurious bathroom with a wash and changing area separated from the lavatory area. The room is well-equipped and provides plenty of room to move around in.

In business and economy class, Lufthansa also offers its customers the highest level of passenger comfort. Passengers traveling in Lufthansa’s successful business class on the A380 can enjoy the recognized benefits of a seat that converts into a comfortable, two-meter-long bed. There’s also more individual space for economy class passengers, the Lufthansa officials said. The new seat concept provides passengers with an additional five cms of personal space and more legroom at knee level. The German airlines also introduced an enhanced economy class and will roll out a brand new business class in 2012.

Lufthansa’s commitment to innovation is also mirrored by the introduction of FlyNet, the most advanced Internet on board available. The broadband Internet hotspot is currently being installed on Lufthansa’s long haul aircraft.

There is also another advantage when flying Lufthansa, claimed the airlines officials. Choosing to fly with Lufthansa means being able to enjoy the many benefits of Miles & More. Founded by Lufthansa in 1993, Miles & More today counts more than 17 million members worldwide, making it Europe’s largest and most successful airline loyalty program. It was since joined by a number of Lufthansa’s European partner airlines, with affiliates SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines being the most prominent ones.

While, unveiling the latest product range and the choice of offers for its passengers, the German airline officials revealed that Lufthansa was named Best European Airline serving the Middle East in the recently held Business Traveller Middle East Awards 2011. Voted exclusively by readers of Business Traveller magazine the awards are an important recognition of achievement in the business travel industry, pricing exceptional levels of quality and service.

And all these would be factored in by the travelers as they hope to enjoy a top-flight holiday this summer.