Airlines like Lufthansa might cut future capacity ahead of coronavirus crisis
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
The travel industry has taken some extensive losses in the past couple of weeks. Holiday firms such as TUI have had to cancel all booked holidays until at least June and many airlines have had to ground entire fleets and ask for state support. It is a tough time for the global travel industry.
According to CAPA (Center for Asia Pacific Aviation) igures show that airlines have reduced their load factor by almost 86%. The capacity decrease in Europe is larger than in any other aviation region across the world. Of 20 European airlines 18 air carriers are cutting down in expenses and investments. Ryanair boss O’Leary reflected on the aviation future and asked “if we have to operate for three, six, nine, maybe even 12 months, with no flights and no revenues how do we survive?”.
Predictions for the future of air travel
Experts have different opinions and predictions on what may happen to air travel in the future after Covid-19. Some experts say for example that many airlines will take up to mid-2021 to return their schedule and the frequency of flights to where they were before the corona crisis. However, more positive experts predict that the aviation industry will be one of the quicker industries to bounce back and recover.
Airlines such as Lufthansa are making cutbacks for future operations
Lufthansa has already announced it is no longer interested in maintaining such a large fleet. The German airline has announced it is planning to reduce its operational aircraft and has already reduced its longhaul fleet by five Boeing 747-400s as well as 6 models of Airbus 380. Lufthansa’s low-cost airline Eurowings is also planning to reduce its long-haul capacity.
Currently, the fleet of 763 aircraft with which the Lufthansa Group roams our skies only consists of 63 aircraft that are still operating, leaving a large number of 700 aeroplanes parked at airports all across Europe.
Subsidiary Germanwings has already been terminated
The subsidiary which had merged with Eurowings to operate Lufthansa’s low-cost network has now been discontinued. According to the Lufthansa Group this was a measurement that was necessary in order to secure operations for the group amidst travels bans and a 95% reduce in operations.