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LUFTHANSA REDUCES WINTER FLIGHT SCHEDULE
msnbc.com
7:30 p.m. ET Oct. 9, 2009
FRANKFURT - German airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG said Friday it would
reduce the number of its winter flights by 7.4 percent through the
phase out of smaller aircraft.
The Cologne-based company said the cutbacks would come mainly from
European and domestic routes that use smaller aircraft, which will be
replaced by larger aircraft. Therefore, the available seat capacity
will remain stable in the winter schedule.
The company, which is Europe's largest airline by sales, said it will
fly to 191 destinations in 78 countries compared with 194 destinations
in 79 countries in 2008. Lufthansa didn't specify what country it was
exiting, but said in the past several months it discontinued flights
to Yerevan, Armenia; Bristol, England; Ufa, Russia and Portland,
Oregon for economic reasons. The new schedule takes effect Oct. 25.
The company said in contrast to the new cutbacks announced for Europe,
it was making a slight increase in some long-haul flights -- including
those to the U.S.
"We are maintaining existing connections and not radically revising
our route network," the company said in a statement.
"We are optimizing the network so as to retain connection quality
wherever possible for our customers. We are keeping a presence in all
traffic regions and canceling flight connections only when alternatives
are available to our passengers."
Earlier, Lufthansa said the group's September passenger levels jumped
25 percent with the inclusion of traffic from Austrian Airlines and
British Midland in which it recently acquired majority stakes, but said
its fundamental business remained challenged in the global downturn.
Lufthansa also owns or holds stakes in airlines including Swiss
International Airlines, Brussels Airlines and JetBlue of the U.S.
Lufthansa shares closed unchanged at euro11.80 ($17.34) in Frankfurt
trading.
msnbc.com
7:30 p.m. ET Oct. 9, 2009
FRANKFURT - German airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG said Friday it would
reduce the number of its winter flights by 7.4 percent through the
phase out of smaller aircraft.
The Cologne-based company said the cutbacks would come mainly from
European and domestic routes that use smaller aircraft, which will be
replaced by larger aircraft. Therefore, the available seat capacity
will remain stable in the winter schedule.
The company, which is Europe's largest airline by sales, said it will
fly to 191 destinations in 78 countries compared with 194 destinations
in 79 countries in 2008. Lufthansa didn't specify what country it was
exiting, but said in the past several months it discontinued flights
to Yerevan, Armenia; Bristol, England; Ufa, Russia and Portland,
Oregon for economic reasons. The new schedule takes effect Oct. 25.
The company said in contrast to the new cutbacks announced for Europe,
it was making a slight increase in some long-haul flights -- including
those to the U.S.
"We are maintaining existing connections and not radically revising
our route network," the company said in a statement.
"We are optimizing the network so as to retain connection quality
wherever possible for our customers. We are keeping a presence in all
traffic regions and canceling flight connections only when alternatives
are available to our passengers."
Earlier, Lufthansa said the group's September passenger levels jumped
25 percent with the inclusion of traffic from Austrian Airlines and
British Midland in which it recently acquired majority stakes, but said
its fundamental business remained challenged in the global downturn.
Lufthansa also owns or holds stakes in airlines including Swiss
International Airlines, Brussels Airlines and JetBlue of the U.S.
Lufthansa shares closed unchanged at euro11.80 ($17.34) in Frankfurt
trading.