German airline Lufthansa is cancelling 20,000 flights as the Iran war sends jet fuel costs soaring around the world, the carrier said in a statement Tuesday.
The airline said it is cancelling a number of flights this summer operated by Lufthansa CityLine, a Lufthansa subsidiary that operates short-haul flights across Europe.
The first 120 flight cuts have already been announced between now and May 31, with the passengers having been informed, and more flight reductions through to October are yet to be announced.
The initial reduction includes cancellation of routes from Frankfurt to Bydgoszcz and Rzeszów in Poland, as well as Stavanger in Norway. At least three destinations have been temporarily removed from the current flight schedule.
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The cancellations will end up amounting to 20,000 short-haul flights from May to October, the company said.
The reductions will result in “jet fuel savings of more than 40,000 metric tons,” the company said. More flight cancellations will be announced by late April or early May, it added.
“For the flights scheduled in the summer timetable, the Group expects a largely stable fuel supply. Lufthansa is pursuing a range of measures to this end, including the physical procurement of jet fuel as well as price hedging,” Lufthansa said in its statement.
A surge in jet fuel prices driven by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has upended the global aviation industry, forcing airlines to raise fares and revise their financial outlooks.
Jet fuel prices have soared from US$85 to US$90 per barrel to US$150 to US$200 per barrel in recent weeks, a financial hit for an industry where fuel accounts for up to a quarter of operating expenses.
— with files from Reuters
Trump helping the environment with less pollution from aircraft. Who’d have thunk Trump was so environmentally inclined!?
Canada has the potential to displace Iran, and OPEC if the LPC, NDP, and Natives were to get on board. There is a strong business case for such a prosperous endeavour.