The Lufthansa group confirmed on Friday a major plan to resume its flight network starting in June. Swiss, Eurowings, in addition to Lufthansa itself, will fly to 106 destinations, but which were not detailed.
To serve these destinations, the company says it will double the number of active aircraft, from the current 80 to 160 units. Again, the German group has not outlined what will be the strategy for using its fleet, which includes a wide variety of aircraft, among older and more efficient models.
“We sense a great desire and longing among people to travel again. Hotels and restaurants are slowly opening, and visits to friends and family are in some cases being allowed again. With all due caution, we are now making it possible for people to catch up and experience what they had to do without for a long time. It goes without saying that the safety and health of our guests and employees are of the highest priority,” says Harry Hohmeister, Member of the Executive Board of German Lufthansa AG.
The company, however, is keen to note that flights will obey new health standards such as the suspension of the catering service, in addition to the use of masks or any type of nose and mouth cover, something that Lufthansa has been demanding since 4 May.
Currently, the German group, which suffers from huge losses, has been operating with about 80 planes on repatriation flights around the world and which will be closed in May.
Altogether, Lufthansa, Eurowings and Swiss have almost 500 aircraft in their fleets. Part of these jets will no longer fly due to the reduction in global passenger demand and also because they are inefficient. Among the models that should be discarded by the airline are the A340, 747-400 and A380 quad engines.
Meanwhile, the airline is negotiating an aid package with the German government that involves a total of 9 billion euros.
