Lufthansa cancels record 33,000 flights after dramatic crash in demand
German carrier is reportedly planning to slash around 33,000 flights as a result of the Covid-induced reduction in passenger demand this winter.
According to the airline’s boss Carsten Spohr, Lufthansa was currently operating 60 per cent of its flights, as bookings for the mid-January to February period were hit the hardest, especially in the group’s home markets.
“Above all we are missing passengers in our home markets of Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium, because these countries have been hit hardest by the pandemic wave,” Spohr told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
The chief executive also added Lufthansa would continue to operate its currently scheduled services just to keep their airport slots.
“Because of the reduced demand in January, we even would have canceled considerably more flights. But in winter we will have to carry out 18,000 extra, unnecessary flights, just to secure our take-off and landing rights,” he said.
Over the festive period the carrier was forced to ground a few of its aircraft due to a lack of pilots – as some of them are sick with the latest Covid variant, Omicron.
Some flights to the US – including to Boston, Washington and Houston – as well as a few services to Japan were hit, German news broadcaster DW has reported.