The flights concerned are from and to the “hubs” of Frankfurt and Munich, mainly domestic and intra-European connections.
Airline giant Lufthansa will cut more than 3,000 flights this summer due to staff shortages, strikes and Covid-19, it said Thursday as it announced a second wave of cancellations. The new announcement relates to the elimination of 2200 flights.
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The company had already recently canceled 900 connections, arguing “bottlenecks and a shortage of personnel from which the entire European aviation sector suffers“. Its low-cost subsidiary Eurowings had also announced “several hundred flightsless in July. These staffing shortages concern “especially airports, ground services, aviation security and therefore also airlines“Explains the company in a press release sent to AFP.
An increase in sick leave
From now on, “strikes among air traffic controllers, the weather and above all an increase in Covid-19 infections weigh more“, explains Lufthansa, who reports an increase in sick leave “the last days“. As a result, the group is eliminating 2,200 flights out of 80,000 departing from and arriving at “hubsfrom Frankfurt and Munich, mainly domestic and intra-European connections. The deletions no longer only concern weekends but also weekdays.
The measure judgedinevitable“must ensure”more flight plan stability throughout the summer“avoiding a priori”the overload of ground processes during peak hours“, explains the group. Since the lifting of health restrictions in many countries, notably in the United Kingdom, at the start of the year, carriers have faced difficulties in meeting the surge in demand, mainly due to severe labor shortages. work.
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In Great Britain, airports have been severely disrupted for weeks, with long queues and series cancellations from Easyjet, British Airways, Tui or Wizz Air. London’s Gatwick Airport announced last week that it would limit the number of daily flights in July and August, to avoid further chaos. Easyjet also announced last Monday a reduction in its transport capacity this summer due to staff shortages, both in airports and air traffic control as well as in companies.