Lufthansa axes 3,000 flights over staff shortages

BERLIN (AFP): German national carrier Lufthansa said Thursday it was cancelling more than 3,000 flights during the summer holidays due to staff shortages as the industry attempts to recover from the pandemic.

The announcement came just days after the airline said it had axed 900 of its July flights due to personnel issues.

“In an effort to inform passengers as soon as possible, Lufthansa will take another 2,200 out of around 80,000 flights at the hubs of Frankfurt and Munich out of the system” this summer, the company said in a statement.

While the initial cancellations had affected flights on Fridays and weekends, the new measures will hit weekday travel.

It said the flights scrapped would include domestic as well as European routes but “not the well-booked classic holiday destinations”.

In addition, the carrier said passengers should expect scheduling changes.

It attributed the slimmed-down schedule to “flight security strikes, weather events and in particular the high number of coronavirus infections” creating staffing woes.

The airline said it had attempted to recruit additional personnel to cushion the blow but to limited effect.

Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said last month the airline was projecting a record summer for tourist activity, with the latest data showing passenger numbers bouncing back from the coronavirus pandemic.

The number of passengers on Lufthansa flights had “more than quadrupled” in the first quarter to 13 million, from three million in 2021, Spohr said, when travel restrictions in many markets were more severe.