Lufthansa cuts 20,000 flights as fuel costs surge amid West Asia conflict

Germany’s Lufthansa Group said Tuesday it will cancel around 20,000 short-haul flights through October as it trims unprofitable routes amid sharp rise in jet fuel prices following the West Asia conflict.

The airline group said the reductions would lower its overall summer capacity by less than 1% in available seat kilometers (ASK), while helping save more than 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel, the cost of which has doubled since the outbreak of the conflict.

“The schedule adjustments reduce the number of unprofitable short-haul flights across the Lufthansa Group network,” the company said, adding that passengers would continue to have access to its global route network.

The move also accelerates consolidation across its hub airlines, including Lufthansa Airlines, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and ITA Airways.

“Following this approach, the first 120 daily flight cancellations were implemented yesterday, effective through the end of May, and affected passengers have been notified,” Lufthansa said in a statement on April 21.

Routes from Frankfurt to Bydgoszcz and Rzeszów in Poland, as well as Stavanger in Norway, have been temporarily removed, while several other connections are being consolidated via alternative hubs.

The group said revised schedules for the peak summer season would be published in late April or early May.

“This will include optimizations to the short-haul offering for the entire summer season, thereby ensuring schedule stability for the flight plan period,” the company said.

Lufthansa said it expects a largely stable fuel supply in the coming weeks, supported by physical procurement and price hedging measures.