Alarm mood in the skyKerosene crisis and mega strike! Lufthansa is shutting down aircraft

Lufthansa Cityline dies almost immediately

In response to the costs of strikes, Lufthansa is ceasing operations at the regional airline Cityline more quickly than planned and is also reducing capacity at the core Lufthansa brand. “As a first, immediately effective step, Lufthansa Cityline's 27 operational aircraft will be finally removed from the program from the day after tomorrow in order to reduce further losses for the loss-making airline,” Lufthansa said on Thursday. Previously, Cityline was not scheduled to cease operations until 2028. Now everything comes much earlier and more brutally.

At the end of the summer flight schedule, four older long-haul aircraft from the Lufthansa core brand will also be phased out. In the winter flight program, the short- and medium-haul range will be reduced by five aircraft. At the same time, the cheaper subsidiary Discover is to expand more quickly with new Airbus A350 jets.

Lufthansa is reacting to the currently insoluble collective bargaining dispute with the Cockpit pilots' union over company pension schemes. The pilots have just started the fourth round of strikes with a two-day walkout until Friday.

Drastic warning: Europe only has six weeks of aviation fuel left

The warning is drastic. Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency IEA, said in an interview with the AP news agency that Europe has “Maybe” only around six weeks of special aviation fuel (kerosene) available. This means there is a risk of flight cancellations for numerous airlines.

Sources used: Lufthansa, RTL, AFP, dpa