Lufthansa trims short-haul flights

Lufthansa is removing 20,000 short-haul flights from its schedule through October as jet fuel prices surge. (newsroom.lufthansagroup.com) The cuts span Lufthansa Group’s six hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna, Brussels, and Rome, and the company said the move targets unprofitable short-haul flying. Lufthansa said the reduction would save about 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel. (newsroom.lufthansagroup.com) The company said jet fuel prices have doubled since the Iran conflict began. The New York Times reported global jet fuel prices had jumped more than 70% since the start of the war, with Europe especially exposed because much of its fuel moves through the Strait of Hormuz. (newsroom.lufthansagroup.com) (nytimes.com) Air Transat is making similar cuts in Canada. Transat A.T. said the airline has reduced planned capacity by 6% from May to October 2026, a pullback that Canadian Press reported amounts to about 1,000 flights. (transat.mediaroom.com) (ca.finance.yahoo.com) Air Transat said it is trimming frequencies on some Europe and Caribbean routes, extending its suspension of Cuba service, and delaying or ending some other routes. The company said fuel price volatility and supply constraints in regions including Cuba drove the changes. (transat.mediaroom.com) These schedule cuts land just as airlines head into the peak summer booking season. Fewer seats on short-haul networks can also ripple into long-haul travel because those flights feed passengers into larger hub airports. (newsroom.lufthansagroup.com) (euronews.com) Lufthansa framed its move as a network optimization, not a retreat from summer travel, and said it is consolidating flying across the group rather than shutting down a single hub. Air Transat said it is prioritizing routes with the strongest performance outlook. (newsroom.lufthansagroup.com) (transat.mediaroom.com) For travelers, the immediate effect is simpler: fewer flights and less slack in the schedule through October. As long as fuel stays expensive, airlines are signaling that summer fares are unlikely to ease much. (newsroom.lufthansagroup.com) (ca.finance.yahoo.com)