MUNICH- Lufthansa Group (LH) CEO Carsten Spohr warns of impending flight schedule cuts in Germany due to escalating airport fees.
Spohr expressed deep concern about the connectivity of German business locations in an interview with Bild am Sonntag. He attributes the decline in air services to the extreme increase in state-imposed costs for air traffic.
Lufthansa CEO on Flight Cuts
Airlines such as Eurowings (EW) and Ryanair (FR) have already canceled numerous flights in Germany, citing prohibitively high fees.
Spohr criticizes additional planned government regulations, including a blending quota for e-fuels, which are not yet available in sufficient quantities.
He argues that these measures are causing a decline in connectivity quality for many important economic regions by international standards.
The Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry attributes recent flight cancellations to Germany’s significantly higher state-imposed costs compared to other European countries.
For a medium-haul flight within Europe, taxes and duties are projected to reach a new record high of approximately 30 euros per passenger, substantially increasing operational expenses for airlines serving German airports.
Ryanair CEO Remarks
Ryanair (FR) announced on Thursday its decision to cease operations at three German airports – Dortmund, Dresden, and Leipzig – from summer 2025. The Irish low-cost carrier blames high taxes and fees for this move.
Additionally, Ryanair will reduce flights from Hamburg by 60% and from Berlin by 20%, as previously announced in August.
Ryanair, led by Michael O’Leary, will reduce its German operations significantly in 2025. The airline plans to cut 1.8 million seats and eliminate 22 routes, affecting destinations like Dresden and Hamburg.
Eddie Wilson, CEO of Ryanair DAC, told Deutsche Welle (DW) that Germany’s refusal to promote airport growth is shortsighted. He stated Ryanair’s willingness to expand in Germany but cited rising air travel taxes, security, and airport fees as reasons for relocating capacity to other EU countries.
While Ryanair didn’t specify potential job losses, it acknowledged possible ripple effects on workers and the hospitality industry. Germany’s flagship carrier, Lufthansa, has also experienced reduced air traffic due to these new measures.
Ryanair, Europe’s largest carrier, has a history of confronting challenges to its business. Earlier this year, it successfully sued travel agents like Booking.com and Kayak for removing its flights from their platforms.
Despite post-pandemic travel recovery, Ryanair faces challenges with price-sensitive passengers who delay bookings.
In response to these challenges, Ryanair is considering expanding into package holidays, following EasyJet’s successful model.
Following Ryanair’s lead, Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings (EW) declared on Friday that it would cancel flights in Hamburg. Eurowings CEO Jens Bischof stated that as an initial step, over 1,000 flights will be cut by 2025.
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