Summer 2023 still seems distant, but there is already some news that eager planners might want to take into consideration. German aviation giant Lufthansa has just announced that it will cancel every 10th flight planned for this summer.
Lufthansa has announced that between March 26 and October 29, 2023, the German airline will cancel around 34.000 scheduled flights, which amounts to an average of 500 flights per day. As of yet, the number is relevant for Lufthansa-branded planes only and does not apply to the company’s 300 subsidiaries and affiliates.
Airports in Germany have seen major disruptions recently as thousands of staff members across the country walked out during multiple Warnstreiks (warning strikes) for higher salaries in line with inflation. Last summer also saw chaos at airports across the federal states after staff shortages lead Lufthansa to cancel thousands of summer flights, leaving passengers stranded.
In a statement, a Lufthansa spokesperson explained that the same “bottlenecks and staff shortages” as last summer are the blame for the timetable cuts.
According to the company, it is not out of the question that Lufthansa subsidiaries Eurowings, Brussels and Swiss Air could be affected by future cancellations since the German company is still adjusting its summer timetable.
The plan is that timetables will be shifted around in a manner that will minimise disruption to people’s travel plans, the airline explained. For example, routes with multiple scheduled flights per day will be the first to be cut so that the airline can provide travellers with an alternative journey.
According to WirtschaftsWoche, who spoke to a Lufthansa insider, passengers that have already booked flights for this summer are unlikely to be affected, since the company has only sold an average of 10 tickets per flight so far.
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