FRANKFURT, April 22, 2026, 13:13 CEST
- Lufthansa Group will cut 20,000 short-haul flights through October, saying the move will save more than 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel.
- The cuts lower summer capacity by less than 1% in available seat kilometers, a measure of seats offered multiplied by distance flown.
- The airline says fuel supply is secured for the coming weeks, but it is still revising the summer schedule.
Lufthansa Group will remove 20,000 short-haul flights from its summer schedule through October, the clearest sign yet that Europe’s jet-fuel squeeze is forcing airlines to shrink networks before the peak travel season. The German airline group said the cuts would save more than 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel and reduce capacity by less than 1% in available seat kilometers, or ASK, an industry measure of seats offered multiplied by distance flown.
The move matters now because fuel costs, already the largest variable expense for many airlines, have become harder to absorb after Lufthansa said jet fuel prices had doubled since the outbreak of the Iran conflict. The company is cutting loss-making short-haul flights while trying to protect its long-haul network, where feeder traffic from hubs such as Frankfurt and Munich remains critical.
Lufthansa said the first 120 daily cancellations were implemented from Monday and would run through May 31, with affected passengers already notified. Routes from Frankfurt to Bydgoszcz and Rzeszów in Poland and Stavanger in Norway have been temporarily removed from the schedule.
The cuts are part of a wider reshaping across Lufthansa’s six hubs: Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Vienna, Brussels and Rome. The group said it would reduce unprofitable flying in Frankfurt and Munich while expanding some existing routes in Zurich, Vienna and Brussels, a shift that spreads the pressure across Lufthansa Airlines, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and ITA Airways.
Lufthansa is also accelerating fleet moves it announced last week. The group said it would permanently remove 27 Lufthansa CityLine aircraft from the flight programme, retire the last four Airbus A340-600 aircraft from Lufthansa’s core fleet in October and ground two Boeing 747-400s for the winter season.
Chief Financial Officer Till Streichert said the package was “unavoidable” because of sharply higher kerosene costs and geopolitical instability. He said Lufthansa had planned for some time to remove CityLine from the programme, but that the current crisis forced an earlier move, calling it “a painful step” for staff at the regional unit. Lufthansa Group Newsroom
The company said around 80% of its passenger airlines’ fuel consumption is hedged, meaning protected against some market price moves, but the remaining 20% still has to be bought at higher market prices. Lufthansa said the measures would cut that expensive unhedged portion by about 10%.
There is a caveat. Lufthansa said fuel supply for the coming weeks is secured and that it expects a largely stable supply for the summer timetable, but it is still revising medium-term route plans and will publish further schedule changes in late April or early May. That leaves passengers with some uncertainty, especially on thinner short-haul routes feeding major hubs.
The pressure is not limited to Lufthansa. Reuters reported last week that easyJet warned bookings were lagging last year’s levels, while Ryanair, Wizz Air and Lufthansa shares fell as investors weighed fuel costs and possible capacity cuts across the sector. Dudley Shanley, head of aviation at Goodbody, said airlines’ profit outlooks would have to be pulled back as slower bookings and lower yields fed investor concern.
Germany has tried to calm fears of an immediate shortage. Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said on Tuesday that jet-fuel supplies were not in danger as refineries adapted to increased demand, while Joachim Lang, director general of German aviation association BDL, said the industry faced “less of an availability problem than a huge price problem.” Reuters
Passenger groups and travel sellers will still watch the next Lufthansa schedule update closely. Simon Calder, travel correspondent at The Independent, said aviation is a low-margin business and that flights that were only marginally profitable can become heavily loss-making when fuel prices double, though he said some cancellations could be handled by moving passengers to nearby airports or alternative departures.
The broader risk is that fuel disruption lasts long enough to force more cancellations, fare increases or government intervention. Airlines UK has asked British ministers for flexibility on rules including slots and passenger compensation if fuel disruption worsens, and IATA Director General Willie Walsh said authorities need clear plans in case rationing becomes necessary.
