Lufthansa has announced the cancellation of 2,000 more summer flights to and from the airports in Frankfurt and Munich. It is the third wave of cancellation from the airline this summer, 3,000 having been announced last month and another almost 1,000 last week.
The most affected are the flights scheduled during peak morning and evening hours, especially since those are the times when airport staff is overloaded and the risk of luggage handling being delayed increases. Furthermore, most of the cancelled flights are the short haul, within Germany or to neighbouring countries, since these are the easiest to find alternatives for.
The airline once again cited staff shortages, both its own crew and at the airports, leading to the need for the cancellations. “Lufthansa has implemented numerous measures and is recruiting additional staff wherever possible to ensure the greatest possible stability of the flight schedule and thus offer its passengers the best possible planning security. Flight safety strikes, weather events and, in particular, an increased coronavirus infection rate have now put additional strain on the system”, the airline told Reuters.
While Germany is the most affected European country by flight cancellations, multiple airlines in the Lufthansa group have been scrapping flights all over the continent. Brussels Airlines has only recently cancelled an additional 700 flights, on top of the few hundreds previously announced. Swiss Air Lines and Eurowings are also facing difficulties maintaining their planned summer schedule.
Of course, it is not just Lufthansa. The aviation chaos that has taken over Europe has left no stone unturned. British Airways has cancelled tens of thousands of flights in different stages. Airports are also affected, Brussels Airport in particular having suffered more delays than any other European airport.
