Lufthansa is the latest European airline to announce cuts to its regular schedule over the summer period due to staff shortages and strikes.
Germany’s national flag carrier will cut almost 3,000 flights at its hubs at Frankfurt Airport and Munich International Airport.
The cuts will also affect the Lufthansa Group’s subsidiary Eurowings.
Further details
Lufthansa has focused its cuts on short-haul and medium-haul flights with many alternative travel options on offer to ensure that routes to popular holiday destinations do not suffer much disruption.
These cuts, in particular, have been attributed to staff shortages at “airports, ground services [and] aviation security”, “strikes among air traffic controllers” and “the weather”. An increase in sick leave due to an increase in covid-19 infections over the past few days also contributed to the motivation behind the cuts.
Earlier this month, the German major carrier cancelled almost 1,000 flights for the summer due to staff shortages. 900 of the 1,000 flights were domestic and intra-European flights from its hubs at Frankfurt and Munich. The affected routes were flights taking place on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays however, and amounted to around 5% of the Group’s weekend capacity.
These latest cuts also feature intra-European flights and more high-frequency and domestic routes that have realistic alternative transportation options whereby individuals can still reach their destinations with relative ease.
The Star Alliance member added that it will also be adjusting flight times.
Lufthansa said that affected passengers will be notified by the carrier as soon as possible to arrange alternative methods to get to their destination.
In the UK, British Airways have cut its summer schedule due to its struggles with staff shortages and London Heathrow Airport will cut passenger numbers coming into the busy airport by a third to curb overcrowding and cancellations.
What do you make of Lufthansa’s decision? Will you be affected by these cuts? Let us know in the comments below.
