Lufthansa planes parked at Frankfurt airport, Germany, March 7, 2024. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Germany’s largest airline, Lufthansa, plans to cancel approximately 100 flights to Germany per week as early as summer 2026 due to high taxes and fees, News.Az reports citing the head of the Lufthansa Group, Carsten Spohr, who stated this in an interview with the newspaper Die Welt.
He noted that operating costs in Germany have doubled since 2019. “We now generate more than three-quarters of our revenue abroad,” Spohr stated. “If accommodation costs don’t decrease, further flight cancellations are inevitable,” the Lufthansa CEO added.
Flights such as Munich-Münster/Osnabrück and Munich-Dresden are under close scrutiny, according to Spohr. “We operate with losses on these routes on a daily basis,” he emphasized. Spohr also explained that Lufthansa’s subsidiary, Eurowings, has already cancelled more than 80% of its domestic flights, as they have become unprofitable due to high taxes and fees.
“We’re talking about approximately 100 domestic flights a week, which could be cancelled again next summer,” Spohr said, when asked how many flights are at risk. He acknowledged that for the regions affected by these measures, this would be a “serious blow.”
Spohr also confirmed that Lufthansa will reduce its administrative staff by 4,000 by 2030 through automation and digitalization. The company hopes to increase profitability and optimize its business strategy through these reductions. “First and foremost, this requires a significant increase in productivity. In future, our aircraft will spend less time on the ground, where they are unprofitable, and will instead spend more time in the air,” Spohr concluded.