Lufthansa Innovation Hub (LIH), the digitalisation and innovation unit of the German airline, launched its first foreign office in Singapore yesterday.

LIH Singapore will focus on market developments in the digitalisation of travel and establish a network of strategic partners here.

It has concluded a research partnership with the business school Insead on the future of work and transformation of business travel.

The key findings will be published in a white paper and implemented in a test project with Lufthansa.

Separately, LIH is working with co-working space provider WeWork on joint research projects.

The findings from the research partnerships will be tested under real-world conditions, Lufthansa said.

It is in discussions with Changi Airport Group and Munich Airport on this front.

LIH was started in 2014 in Berlin.

It will be expanding to Shanghai later this year.

"More than ever, Asian start-ups, but also digital enterprises, are the driving force behind fundamental changes along the travel chain," said Mr Christian Langer, managing director of LIH, in a media statement.

"With the expansion of LIH, we want to become a serious part of this emerging ecosystem," he said.