Lufthansa boss Spohr warns of further flight cancellations

As of: October 13, 2024 11:33 a.m

Many airlines are thinning out their offerings, citing excessive taxes and fees in Germany. The Lufthansa boss is now making a similar statement. The opposition reacts.

Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr expects further cuts to the flight schedules of the aviation industry in Germany. “I am very worried about the connection of our business location,” said Spohr Picture on Sunday. “The extremely increased state costs in air transport are leading to a further shrinking offer. More and more airlines are avoiding German airports or canceling important connections.”

Recently, the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair and the Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings canceled numerous flights. Both airlines cite the high cost burden at German airports as the reason for the cancellations. For months, the aviation industry has been complaining about high costs such as flight fees and the air traffic tax, which was increased in May, as well as fees for security checks and air traffic control.

E-fuel admixture is a concern

Spohr criticized the fact that additional government regulations were already planned: “Further national solo efforts have already been decided on for the next few years – for example an admixture quota for e-fuels, which, however, does not yet exist in sufficient quantities. As a result, it is falling in international comparison the quality of connections to many important economic regions.” E-fuels are synthetically produced carbon-based fuels that are intended to reduce climate-damaging CO2 emissions from aircraft.

The BDL industry association is campaigning for revenue from the increased aviation tax to be used to promote alternative aviation fuels. He refers to the coalition agreement of the traffic light government. It says: “We will use revenue from the aviation tax to promote the production and use of CO2-neutral, electricity-based aviation fuels as well as for research, development and fleet modernization in aviation.”

CSU jumps to the side of airlines

The CSU is taking up the issue and, according to a media report, wants to achieve cheaper prices for airline tickets. “First, for example, the latest increase in aviation tax must be reversed, because the empty state treasury must not be improved at the expense of our aviation location,” said Ulrich Lange, the deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, to the Augsburger Allgemeine, according to one Advance report. The costs behind aviation security fees should also be reduced.

Lange described it as a warning sign that Ryanair and Eurowings wanted to cancel flight connections in Germany. This could set in motion “a negative spiral” that could also affect the Bavarian locations of Munich, Nuremberg and Memmingen. According to the preliminary report, the CSU transport politician explained that the barrel is apparently full for airlines and airports when it comes to costs. “The traffic lights must finally realize that the alarm bells are ringing loudly and that action is needed if air traffic in Germany is not to suffer lasting damage.”

Other factors play a role

In fact, high taxes and fees in Germany are just one reason why airlines are thinning out their offerings. Other factors include international conflicts such as Russia’s war against Ukraine and the Middle East war, which force airlines to take costly detours because the airspace is too dangerous and must be avoided.

Falling demand also plays a role: the frequencies of several connections to the USA are being reduced, simply because the flights are no longer in great demand. Aviation expert Yvonne Ziegler recently told tagesschau.delast year the US routes ran significantly better. Travelers were also willing to pay price increases last year because of the catch-up effects caused by Corona. “Because the economy is not doing so well, consumers are more price sensitive this year.”

In addition, many airlines are waiting for new aircraft, the delivery of which has been delayed. For example, Lufthansa has 41 Boeing 777s as well as the A320neo fleet. The airlines are deploying their reduced fleets primarily on routes that promise profit and are canceling the less frequently used connections.

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