Lufthansa Group will slash 20,000 short-haul flights across its six European hubs this summer in an effort to conserve jet fuel.
The company said Tuesday that the affected flights have been removed from its schedule through October. The cuts are expected to save about 40,000 metric tons of fuel.
“The schedule adjustments reduce the number of unprofitable short-haul flights across the Lufthansa Group network,” officials said in a statement. “The planned consolidation of the European network is being carried out across Lufthansa Group’s six hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna, Brussels, and Rome. Passengers will therefore continue to have access to the global route network, particularly long-haul connections. However, due to the increase in jet fuel prices, this will be achieved significantly more efficiently than before.”
Lufthansa Group has already implemented some short-term flight reductions – about 120 per day – and plans to publish details of its new summer schedule later this month.
Airlines in Europe are considered especially vulnerable to fuel price volatility and potential shortages stemming from the conflict in Iran. Lufthansa Group has been proactive on the issue, pruning routes and temporarily grounding some of its less efficient aircraft. The company also accelerated the shutdown of Munich-based Lufthansa CityLine earlier this month in a bid to contain the subsidiary carrier’s longstanding losses.
So far, Lufthansa Group has temporarily removed three destinations from its summer lineup: Bydgoszcz and Rzeszów in Poland and Stavanger, Norway. Service to 10 other European destinations will be reworked and consolidated across the company’s member airlines, officials said.
