Lufthansa sees no end to disrupted flights until 2023, Welt says

Deutsche Lufthansa AG doesn’t expect flight operations to return to normal until next year, after cutting 3,100 flights from its summer schedule due to staff shortages.

“Unfortunately, we will hardly be able to realistically achieve a short-term improvement now in the summer,” Lufthansa board member Detlef Kayser said in an interview with Die Welt. The only option for now is to reduce the number of flights, he said. 

“Overall, we expect the situation to return to normal in 2023,” the newspaper quoted Kayser as saying.

Germany’s flagship airline on Friday announced it will scrap 2,200 domestic and European routes in July and August, on top of 900 cancellations unveiled earlier this month. That’s about 4% of the carrier’s capacity during that period, according to a spokesperson. 

Travel demand has rebounded dramatically in Europe with the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, leaving some airlines struggling to cope and subjecting passengers to waiting in line for hours and cancellations. Labor shortages are worsening as a new pandemic outbreak prompts more staffers to call in sick.