Lufthansa cancels another 2,000 summer flights

FRANKFURT

German national carrier Lufthansa said Wednesday it was scrapping another 2,000 flights this summer because of staff shortages, adding to a chaotic travel season as the industry attempts to bounce back from the pandemic.

The cancellations between now and the end of August will affect Lufthansa’s hubs in Munich and Frankfurt, a company spokesman told AFP.

The goal is to “ease the burden on the system”, he said.

Lufthansa, one of the world’s biggest airline groups, already announced more than 3,000 flight cancellations earlier this month. Travel demand has roared back as coronavirus restrictions have eased, far outstripping capacity that had been pared back during the pandemic.   

Other European airports and airlines are also struggling with bottlenecks and staff shortages, leading to long queues and travel disruptions during the peak summer period.

Meanwhile,  air traffic controllers and airline workers from three low-cost airlines will hold a limited strike across Italy at the weekend.    

The four-hour national strike will involve air traffic controllers from Italy’s ENAV group, and pilots and flight attendants from EasyJet, Volotea and RyanAir, unions Filt-Cgil, Fit-Cisl and Uiltrasporti said.

The strike comes at the height of Italy’s busy summer season and just days after a strike by taxi drivers over competition from Uber.     

The unions said air traffic controllers were suffering from Enav’s “manifest inability to communicate and manage personnel”, and threatened further protests if demands were not met.