Lufthansa Group has cancelled 20,000 flights in response to the soaring cost of jet fuel, which has doubled in price. The cuts, representing approximately one per cent of the group's total capacity, are aimed at protecting the airline from financial losses amid rising oil prices.
Details of the Cancellations
On Tuesday, 21 April, Lufthansa Group announced that it would axe flights over the next six months to save 40,000 metric tonnes of jet fuel. The reductions focus on "unprofitable" short-haul routes operated by its regional subsidiary, Lufthansa CityLine. The group's overall capacity will be reduced by one per cent this summer.
Simon Calder, travel correspondent for The Independent, commented: "Aviation is a low-margin industry. When the price of fuel doubles, flights which were only marginally profitable can become heavily loss-making." However, he noted that cancellations need not cause major disruption for passengers. "On a typical day, Lufthansa has two flights a day from Glasgow and three from Edinburgh to its main hub, Frankfurt. One or both of the Glasgow flights could be cancelled and passengers moved to Edinburgh. Similarly, Lufthansa flies early each evening from Birmingham to Frankfurt. Those passengers could be offered the choice of Manchester or London Heathrow departures at much the same time. Annoying, but not the end of your holiday," he added.
Impact on Operations
Lufthansa Group operates the German flag carrier Lufthansa, along with subsidiaries and affiliated companies such as Swiss, Austrian, ITA, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, and Discover Airlines. Lufthansa CityLine has hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. The first 120 daily flight cancellations took effect on Monday and will continue through the end of May. Affected passengers have been notified.
The group has also permanently removed 27 Lufthansa CityLine aircraft from operation. Till Streichert, CFO of Lufthansa Group, stated: "We have already identified the prospective removal of CityLine from our program as part of our strategic development for some time, independently of the current geopolitical crisis. The current crisis is now forcing us to implement this measure earlier. This is a painful step, particularly with regard to the colleagues at Lufthansa CityLine."
Route Cancellations and Fuel Supply Concerns
Some routes have been cancelled entirely, including flights from Frankfurt to Bydgoszcz and Rzeszów in Poland, as well as Stavanger in Norway. These routes have been temporarily removed from the flight schedule.
The news follows a warning from the head of the International Energy Agency last Thursday, who stated that Europe has only about six weeks of jet fuel supply left, describing it as potentially "the largest energy crisis we have ever faced." Despite this, Lufthansa Group expects a largely stable fuel supply for its summer timetable. Any further changes to the flight schedule from June onward will be announced in late April or early May.
