Lufthansa CEO expects further cuts to flight schedules
Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr expects further reductions to German flight schedules and expressed fears that it could harm the country’s appeal to foreign investors, in comments to the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
“I am very concerned about the connectivity of [Germany as a] business location,” Spohr told the newspaper.
“The extreme rise in state costs for air transport is leading to a further decline in supply. More and more airlines are avoiding German airports or cancelling important connections,” he added.
Ryanair and Lufthansa’s subsidiary Eurowings recently cancelled numerous flights, citing high costs at German airports.
The aviation industry has been complaining for months about high costs such as flight fees, an air traffic tax increase introduced in May and charges for security checks and air traffic control.
Spohr criticized further forthcoming German regulations, such as a blending quota for e-fuels despite them not yet being available in sufficient quantities.
He warned that this would decrease the quality of Germany’s connectivity to important economic regions, compared to other international locations.
E-fuels are synthetically produced carbon-based fuels aimed at reducing the climate-damaging CO2 emissions of aircraft.
The air traffic industry association BDL advocates using revenues from the increased air traffic tax to promote alternative aviation fuels, as stated in the coalition agreement struck by the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
