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The European aviation sector is struggling to increase capacity to meet soaring demand for travel.
Photo:
Alex Kraus/Bloomberg News
is scrapping another 2,000 flights from its summer schedule as airlines around Europe grapple with staffing shortages as demand booms.
The European aviation sector is struggling to increase capacity sufficiently quickly to meet soaring demand for travel during the summer. With the dropping of travel restrictions and higher Covid-19 vaccine rates, this was the first summer that many travelers have felt comfortable enough to make overseas trips since the start of the pandemic.
London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports, as well as Amsterdam’s Schiphol—some of Europe’s biggest travel hubs—have also moved to cap the number of passengers departing from their hubs as their capacity to handle the surge in demand is tested.
The German airline cited staff shortages as the main cause of the cancellations, but said that strikes, inclement weather and a rise in Covid-19 cases have put further strain on the system.
So far, Lufthansa has canceled more than 5,770 flights between June and the end of August.
“The main cause of this is an immensely strong increase in traffic volume from just under 20% to over 90% within a few months,” Lufthansa said Wednesday.
The airline said the new cancellations would affect flights in Frankfurt and Munich through the end of August.
Lufthansa said it is recruiting additional workers wherever possible, but warned that its August schedule could still be subject to further changes.
Write to Cristina Roca at [email protected]
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Appeared in the July 14, 2022, print edition as ‘Lufthansa Cuts Out Additional Flights.’
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