Lufthansa leads 20k cancellation tally
- Lufthansa Group said on April 21 it will remove 20,000 short-haul flights from its schedule through October, cutting summer capacity across Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna, Brussels and Rome. - The airline said the reductions equal about 1% of summer available seat kilometers and would save roughly 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel after prices doubled since the Iran conflict. - Other carriers are already trimming too: SAS canceled about 1,000 April flights and KLM cut 160 May flights as Europe weighs fuel-stock rules. (lufthansagroup.com)
Lufthansa Group said on April 21 it will remove 20,000 short-haul flights from its schedule through October. (lufthansagroup.com) The cuts span the group’s six hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna, Brussels and Rome. Lufthansa said the changes will trim less than 1% of summer capacity, measured in available seat kilometers. (lufthansagroup.com) The company said the canceled flying is concentrated in short-haul markets and aimed at “unprofitable” routes. It estimated the reductions would save more than 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel. (lufthansagroup.com) (bloomberg.com) Lufthansa tied the move to a surge in fuel costs after the Iran conflict. Its statement said jet fuel prices had doubled since the outbreak of the war. (lufthansagroup.com) (dw.com) This is not just a Lufthansa problem. Scandinavian Airlines, or SAS, said in March it would cancel at least 1,000 flights in April after jet fuel prices doubled in 10 days, according to Dagens Industri and follow-up coverage. (euronews.com) (marketscreener.com) KLM has also cut flights. Dutch reports said the carrier canceled 160 European flights for May, split between 80 departures and 80 arrivals at Schiphol, or about 1% of its European schedule. (nltimes.nl) (dutchreview.com) Ryanair has not announced a cancellation tally on the scale of Lufthansa’s, but Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said on April 1 that 25% of the airline’s fuel supplies could be at risk in May and June if the Middle East war continued. (marketscreener.com) European officials are now discussing how to manage any squeeze. Reuters reported on April 21 and 22 that the European Union was preparing guidance on passenger rights, airport slots and public-service obligations, and considering mandatory jet-fuel stockpiles. (msn.com 1) (msn.com 2) Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas said this week there was no evidence of “actual shortages” in the European Union and that widespread summer cancellations were not expected. Lufthansa’s 20,000-flight cut shows airlines are already rewriting schedules anyway. (yahoo.com) (lufthansagroup.com)
