Lufthansa grounds 20,000 flights as jet fuel prices increase amid West Asia war

Deutsche Lufthansa AG plans to cut 20,000 unprofitable short-haul flights from its European summer schedule to reduce jet fuel costs, which have surged since the start of the war in Iran. In a statement on Tuesday, Europe's largest airline group said the cuts will amount to 1 per cent of available seat-kilometres, saving nearly 40,000 tons of jet fuel

This follows last week’s decision to shut down its Cityline regional unit and retire 27 older, fuel-inefficient aircraft. Lufthansa has taken some of the most aggressive measures among global carriers amid the crisis, while also dealing with strikes by pilots and cabin crew.

Industry's capacity

The first 120 flight cancellations took effect on Tuesday and will run until the end of May, with further reductions for the summer schedule expected to be announced by late April or early May. The industry's capacity for May has been reduced globally by almost 3 percentage points, with all but one of the 20 largest airlines slashing flights, according to data compiled by the analytics firm Cirium Ltd.

The analytics firm revised its initial prediction, indicating 4 per cent to 6 per cent growth for the year, adding that a decline of as much as 3 per cent is possible under certain conditions. Meanwhile, Deutsche Lufthansa AG is aiming to improve profitability by planning to reduce around 4,000 administrative roles by 2030 and shifting more short-haul operations to lower-cost subsidiaries like City Airlines and Discover Airlines, where crew expenses can be up to 40 per cent lower than at its main carrier.