Lufthansa has announced a series of measure to respond to the Covid 19 pandemic including shutting down its German Wings subsidiary with no indication that the carrier would be restarted at a later date.
“Lufthansa said does not expect the aviation industry to return to pre-coronavirus crisis levels swiftly. According to its assessment, it will take several months until the global travel restrictions are completely lifted and years until the worldwide demand for air travel returns to pre-crisis levels. Based on this evaluation, today the Executive Board has decided to implement further extensive measures to reduce the capacity of flight operations and administration long term,” the firm said in a statement.
Other measures put forward by Lufthansa include reducing the number of Eurowings the short-haul airplanes with an additional ten Airbus A320s planned to be phased out, while Eurowings long-haul business which is run under the commercial responsibility of Lufthansa, will also be reduced.
In a statement Lufthansa said the actions regarding Eurowings are part of a pre-crisis strategy to consolidate it flight operations into one unit, a move with is now being accelerated.
According to the statemen Lufthansa Group airlines have already terminated almost all wet lease agreements with other airlines.
While at Lufthansa, six Airbus A380s and seven A340-600s, in addition to five Boeing 747-400s, will be permanently decommissioned. In addition, eleven Airbus A320s will be withdrawn from short-haul operations.
“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 environmental as well as economic disadvantages of these aircraft types. With this decision, Lufthansa will be reducing capacity at its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich.
Furthermore, Lufthansa Cityline will also withdraw three Airbus A340-300 aircraft from service. Since 2015, the regional carrier has been operating flights to long-haul tourist destinations for Lufthansa,” the firm said in a statement.
Lufthansa said that restructuring programmes s 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 its fleet size by delaying deliveries of new short haul aircraft and consider early phase-outs of older aircraft.