Lufthansa warns of 'no quick recovery' for long-haul

The company said long-haul routes would take longer to recover with only 70% of pre-crisis capacity due to return by the end of 2020.

The German aviation group, which owns Lufthansa, Eurowings, Austrian Airlines and Swiss, recorded an 80% drop in passengers during the second quarter of this year as the pandemic struck.

This huge reduction in passenger numbers caused Lufthansa Group to slump to a loss of €1.7 billion before interest and tax “despite significant cost reductions” between April and June, compared with a profit of €754 million for the same period last year.

Carsten Spohr, chairman of the group’s executive board, said: “We do not expect demand to return to pre-crisis levels before 2024. Especially for long-haul routes there will be no quick recovery.

“We are convinced that the entire aviation industry must adapt to a new normal. The pandemic offers our industry a unique opportunity to recalibrate: to question the status quo and, instead of striving for ‘growth at any price’, to create value in a sustainable and responsible way.”

Lufthansa has been bolstered by a €9 billion “stabilisation package” from the German government in return for a 20% stake in the company.

The company is also undergoing a major restructure including 8,300 redundancies so far, with its "ReNew"plan proposing the eventual loss of 22,000 roles.