Lufthansa Group to downsize following coronavirus crisis

The group’s executive board on Wednesday (8 April) said it had decided to implement further "extensive measures" to reduce operational flight capacity and administration.

Lufthansa will permanently decommission six Airbus A380s, which were already scheduled for sale to Airbus in 2022, as well as seven Airbus A340-600s and five Boeing 747-400s, while a further 11Airbus A320s will be withdrawn from short-haul operations.

Its decision to phase outs its A340-600s and 747-400s has been taken for environmental and economic reasons. As a result, capacity will be reduced at its Frankfurt and Munich hubs.

Elsewhere across the group, Lufthansa Cityline will withdraw three Airbus A340-300 aircraft from service, while Eurowings will reduce its short-haul fleet by phasing out 10 Airbus A320s and also reduce its long-haul operations.

Germanwings flight operations, meanwhile, will be discontinued altogether as part of the group’s plans to consolidate Eurowings’ flight operations into a single unit, a process which was set out before the Covid-19 crisis and which will now be "accelerated".

The group will enter into discussions with unions over the closure of Germanwings and consolidation of Eurowings.