Lufthansa to Cut Fleet, Slash Eurowings’ Long-Haul Ops

Lufthansa Group will cut its fleet by more than 40 aircraft after warning that it will take several years for air travel demand to return to pre-COVID-19 crisis levels, Routes Online reports.

The German group also intends to reduce the capacity of its Eurowings subsidiary by cutting its long-haul operations and closing its Cologne-based subsidiary Germanwings, which operated flights for Eurowings.

In a statement, Lufthansa said it would permanently retire six of its 14 A380s alongside seven A340-600s, and five Boeing 747-400s. Eleven Airbus A320s will also be withdrawn from short-haul operations. The six A380s were already scheduled to be sold back to Airbus in 2022. 

As a result, Lufthansa’s capacity at its main hubs in Frankfurt (FRA) and Munich (MUC) will shrink. OAG Schedules Analyser data shows the Star Alliance member operated about 154,300 flight departures and 27.8 million departure seats from FRA in 2019, as well as 119,600 flight departures and 18.5 million departure seats from MUC.

Lufthansa Cityline will also withdraw three A340-300s from service, while Eurowings will phase out 10 A320s. Airlines within the Lufthansa Group have already terminated almost all wet lease agreements with other carriers.  

In addition to the fleet cuts, Eurowings’ long-haul business, which is run under the commercial responsibility of Lufthansa, will be “reduced.”

As part of the restructure, Lufthansa will scrap its budget regional subsidiary Germanwings. The Germanwings brand was retired in 2015 but the airline had continued flying short-haul routes for Eurowings under a separate air operator’s certificate.