Lufthansa chief executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber and Dmitry Kamenshchik, East Line Group chairman have signed an agreement to shift the German flag carrier's operations from Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport to Domodedovo airport next summer.

As a result, the majority of Star Alliance carriers including Swiss, Austrian Airlines, bmi, Singapore Airlines, Spanair and Thai Airways will operate under one roof in Moscow.

"Thanks to the shift to Domodedovo airport, we will reunite with our Star Alliance partners under one roof of the airport and will be able to offer our passengers a one-stop service ground," said Mr Mayrhuber. "Moreover, Domodedovo's plans for further airport expansion offer great opportunities within one of the most dynamic developing markets in the world."

Said Domodedovo Airport Complex director Sergei Rudakov: "The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with Lufthansa is an important stage towards developing Domodedovo airport into a hub."

Lufthansa will become the 74th airline to operate scheduled flights from Domodedovo and 28th foreign airline to base itself there.

Currently, Lufthansa offers 200 direct services from 18 destinations in the CIS to Germany and other countries. Its international route network covers 192 destinations worldwide.