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FRANKFURT -(Dow Jones)- German flagship airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE) said Thursday it expects to generate more than EUR180 million in synergies from carriers in acquired last year and detailed its turnaround plans for the new businesses.

Chief Financial Officer Stephan Gemkow said at the company's head offices in Frankfurt that synergies from the takeover of Austrian Airlines is expected to total around EUR100 million a year by the end of 2012. Lufthansa had previously said it expects Austrian Airlines synergies to total around EUR80 million.

"Synergies with Lufthansa Group will be leveraged through a worldwide sales force integration, as well as through cooperating at stations and in ground handling," Gemkow said according to the text of a speech.

Gemkow added that Austrian Airlines is expected to reach break-even in 2011 and create value for the wider group from 2012.

Lufthansa also said it expects that its three-year turnaround plan for British Midland Airways, or bmi, will result in synergies of more than EUR20 million a year.

Gemkow said that the bmi turnaround plan foresees slimming the U.K. carrier's fleet by seven aircraft and cutting around 800 jobs.

"In order to reach a sustainable result improvement, routes making heavy losses have been canceled, capacities reduced by 20% and productivity and efficiency increased," Gemkow said.

He added that bmi will in future geographically focus on Great Britain, the Middle East, countries of the former Soviet Union and "selected routes in continental Europe."

Gemkow also said that bmi slots "are being best used within the Lufthansa Group."

The integration of Lufthansa's 45% stake in Brussels Airlines is expected to generate synergies of around EUR60 million, Gemkow added.

Lufthansa earlier Thursday said it expects that synergies from the newly acquired units will help the carrier to achieve a "substantial" increase in 2011 operating profit, provided that the economic recovery continues.

Company Web site: www.lufthansa-financials.com

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