Lufthansa Group just issued a statement clarifying their first restrictive measures, due to the lower operation capacity caused by COVID-19. The decisions taken today will affect almost all flight operations of the Lufthansa Group.
The Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG does not expect the aviation industry to return to pre-coronavirus crisis levels very quickly. It will take months until the global travel restrictions are completely lifted, potentially years until the worldwide demand for air travel returns to pre-crisis levels.
Lufthansa
- Six Airbus A380s, seven A340-600s and five Boeing 747-400s will be permanently decommissioned.
- Eleven Airbus A320s will be withdrawn from short-haul operations.
- Lufthansa Cityline will also withdraw three Airbus A340-300 aircraft from service.
The six A380s were already scheduled for sale to Airbus in 2022.
The decision to phase out seven A340-600s and five Boeing 747-400s was taken based on the environment, as well as the economic disadvantages of these aircraft types. With this decision, Lufthansa will be reducing capacity at their hubs in Frankfurt and Munich.
Eurowings
- In the short-haul segment, an additional ten Airbus A320s are planned to be phased out
- The long-haul business, which is run under the commercial responsibility of Lufthansa, will also be reduced
- Germanwings flight operations will be discontinued
In addition, the implementation of Eurowings objective of bundling flight operations into only one unit, which was defined before the crisis, will now be accelerated.
Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines & SWISS
The restructuring programs already initiated at Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines will be further intensified, due to the coronavirus crisis. Among other things, both companies are working on reducing their fleets. SWISS International Air Lines will also adjust their fleet size, by delaying deliveries of new short-haul aircraft and considering the early phase-out of older aircraft.