Lufthansa only sells tickets in Europe at top prices - and cancels 3,000 flights in summer
Created: 07/02/2022, 06:05
By: Bettina Menzel
Some planes have to stay on the ground in the summer: Lufthansa canceled 3,000 connections in July and August due to capacity problems at airports and internally (symbolic image).
© IMAGO/Christoph Hardt / Panama Pictures
Germany's largest airline Lufthansa has been struggling with serious problems since the corona pandemic.
Customers are now feeling this in the form of hefty prices and canceled flights.
Munich – After two years of the corona pandemic, many Germans are in a holiday mood.
The world is open to travelers again, but vacationing this summer is likely to be expensive - and not just because of inflation.
The largest German airline Lufthansa announced on Friday that it would only offer European flights at top prices.
The reason: 3,000 connections will be canceled in July and August, you have to keep space free for rebooking.
Lufthansa demands maximum prices for domestic German and European flights
Lufthansa has already canceled over 3,000 flights for the summer months of July and August.
Massive capacity problems at the airports, but also in their own company, were the reason for this, as the company announced.
In the summer, however, 95 percent of all planned flights will be carried out, it said.
On Friday, the airline announced that it would temporarily charge maximum prices for domestic German and European flights in July.
An economy flight from Frankfurt to London costs around 1,000 euros, while domestic tickets from Frankfurt to Hamburg or Berlin cost at least 400 euros.
In business class, customers can only reserve tickets in the most expensive booking class "J".
The measure is limited in time and initially applies until July 5, the company said.
According to image
information, this also affects
the employees of the airline themselves, who can actually book discounted tickets to get to their place of work.
Because not all employees live directly at the Lufthansa hubs in Munich and Frankfurt.
According to a picture
insider, the measure could
now lead to fewer staff arriving at the airports in Frankfurt and Munich - and therefore more flights being cancelled.
Lufthansa with capacity problems: This is the reason for the price increase on European flights
Due to staff shortages, there is airport chaos in Germany these days.
Thousands of holidaymakers are affected by canceled flights, long queues and lost luggage even before the start of the summer holidays.
These problems are also evident at Lufthansa - for example with the suitcase chaos in Munich: A week after their stopover at Munich Airport, the owners of 3000 suitcases are still waiting for their luggage.
"It's true that around 3,000 pieces of luggage have been stored in Munich since last weekend," Lufthansa said in a statement on Friday.
"We apologize to our guests and are working flat out 24/7 to deliver your luggage to you."
In the summer, the chaos could be even greater.
The airline had to cancel thousands of flights in July and August.
With the maximum prices for flight tickets, the airline now wants to keep seats free for rebooking.
The goal is to offer all guests affected by a flight cancellation an alternative travel option, a spokesman said on Friday in Frankfurt.
"To ensure this, the company has reduced availability on Lufthansa flights for new bookings in July."
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When Lufthansa will reopen the cheaper booking classes - and what other problems the airline has
Lufthansa only wants to open the system again after the rebooking has been completed and, depending on the availability of seats, also make the cheaper booking classes available again.
It could be as far as Wednesday, July 6, according to company circles on Friday.
Another appointment is scheduled for July 6: According to information from the
Handelsblatt
, the Lufthansa supervisory board wants to deal with the flight chaos again.
The special meeting on Wednesday was convened under pressure from employee representatives who did not feel sufficiently informed by the board.
This is the first time that an extraordinary supervisory board meeting has been convened at Lufthansa at the request of employee representatives - an unusual event overall.
Collective bargaining for around 20,000 Lufthansa ground staff began on Thursday (June 30).
The company is faced with hefty demands: the Verdi union is demanding a salary jump of 9.5 percent.
Handling problems and staff shortages at the airline made the drastic price increases that have now been announced necessary in the first place - the staff shortage is partly homemade.
During the corona pandemic, the airline had laid off numerous employees.
At that time there was talk of a calculated surplus of at least 22,000 full-time positions in the companies of the Lufthansa Group even in the period after the Corona crisis.
The company had to take state aid at times and was dropped from the Dax.
The airline is now traded in the MDAX, the stock index for medium-sized companies, and initially seemed to have recovered after the Corona low
(dpa/bme).
