Germany's flagship airline Lufthansa, which owns 10% of Latvia's national airline, will cancel 20,000 flights from June to October 2026 to save aviation fuel amid the energy crisis caused by the war between the U.S. and Israel against Iran. This was reported on Tuesday, April 21, in a press release from Europe's largest airline.
Lufthansa representatives believe that the cancellation of these flights will save over 40,000 tons of fuel. At the same time, the airline's efficiency, measured in available seat kilometers (this indicator equals the number of available seats multiplied by the number of kilometers traveled by the vehicle), will decrease by less than one percentage point. This, according to Lufthansa, will be achieved by cutting unprofitable short-haul routes from Frankfurt and Munich while simultaneously expanding existing flights from Zurich, Vienna, and Brussels. Changes will also affect the company's sixth hub in Rome.
Lufthansa promised to name the flights that will not be operated from June to October by the end of April. The company is already canceling flights scheduled for dates before May 31. For example, on April 20, Lufthansa canceled the first 120 daily flights. In particular, flights from Frankfurt to Polish Bydgoszcz and Rzeszów, as well as to Norwegian Stavanger, have been temporarily suspended.
Lufthansa prematurely retires all 27 CityLine aircraft
On April 16, Lufthansa announced the premature retirement of all 27 Canadair CRJ aircraft from its unprofitable subsidiary CityLine, which are "approaching the limits of their technical capabilities." The carrier took this step due to rising costs - for aviation fuel amid the war and labor disputes.
At the same time, Lufthansa announced that by October it would retire four Airbus A340-600 and two Boeing 747-400 aircraft operating long-haul flights. In the winter, the airline plans to reduce the volume of available seat kilometers for its main brand Lufthansa.
Other airlines are also canceling flights
Lufthansa is not the only airline that has had to take measures due to instability in the Middle East and rising energy prices. For instance, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, headquartered in Stockholm, will cancel about a thousand flights in April, while French Air France-KLM has increased the surcharge to 100 euros, particularly on already sold tickets for long-haul flights. Moldovan FlyOne has also announced flight cancellations due to fuel issues.
The European Commission is expected to present a plan to address the energy crisis caused by the war in the Middle East on April 22.
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