Lufthansa to suspend three EX-YU routes over winter


Lufthansa will suspend three routes to the former Yugoslavia this coming winter season when compared to last year, due to low demand resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. The airline will not be resuming operations between Frankfurt and Zagreb, as well as Munich and Ljubljana, which have been suspended since March, while services from the Bavarian capital to Belgrade will be shelved from late October. Prior to the global health crisis, the German carrier ran double daily flights between Frankfurt and the Croatian capital, a daily rotation between Munich and Ljubljana and a triple daily service from Munich to Belgrade. The three routes are expected to be restored at the start of the 2021 summer season on March 28. “The continuing high level of uncertainty in global air traffic makes short-term adjustments to the current market situation unavoidable for the foreseeable future. The outlook for international air traffic has significantly worsened in recent weeks ", Lufthansa said.

Since the suspension, Croatia Airlines has increased its operations to Frankfurt, which are codeshared by the German carrier. They now run 22 times per week. On the other hand, there will be no flights from Ljubljana and Belgrade to Munich until at least next summer season. Germany is one of Croatia’s biggest markets, both in the summer and winter months. Last year, 328.534 passengers flew between Zagreb and Frankfurt with Lufthansa and Croatia Airlines. On the other hand, Ljubljana - Munich is the Slovenian capital’s seventh busiest route. During its last full year of operations in 2018, Adria Airways carried 78.000 travellers between the two cities, of which 80% were transfers. Lufthansa handled 206.270 passengers between Munich and Belgrade last year.

The German carrier will continue to maintain the remainder of its network to the former Yugoslavia this winter, albeit with fewer frequencies. These include services from Munich to Sarajevo, which will be restored on October 25 after a seven-month hiatus, from Munich to Zagreb, as well as from Frankfurt to Ljubljana and Belgrade. Lufthansa has said it will slash more jobs on top of the 22.000 previously announced and put more planes out of service as the coronavirus continues to crush travel demand. The German airline group said in a statement it was losing some 500 million euros a month, and bookings were declining after a brief rebound over the summer. To cut costs, Lufthansa now plans to reduce its roughly 800-strong fleet by 150 planes until 2025, compared with an earlier plan to scrap 100 aircraft. Lufthansa, which also owns Swiss, Brussels and Austrian Airlines, was saved from bankruptcy through a German government bailout worth nine billion euros in June. However, the airline has repeatedly warned that the government rescue would not be enough to stave off painful cuts as the sector weathers an unprecedented crisis.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:03

    Wizz is probably happy about this because of their SZG and FMM flights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:09

      Is SZG moved to next year?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:20

      Yes.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:02

      => so it doesnt really matter

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:50

      Why doesn't JU launches Munich?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:34

      It's time for JU in MUC!

      Delete
    6. Anonymous08:02

      Love it! Fully support this idea.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:05

    From triple daily service between Munich and Belgrade to no service at all!
    Goes to show how much demand has fallen and also I think that this route was overwhelmingly used by Serbs instead of Germans. The EU ban on Serbian citizens really made it impossible to have even a few flights a week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      Or by transfers, especially from North America.

      Delete
    2. I am not sure that's entirely correct. They were actually trying to build intercontinental transfer hub in Munich. In the last two years, whenever I would travel to US or Asia from Ljubljana, it would be via Munich and not via Frankfurt. Now when majority of the longhaul routes are being ran from Frankfurt, Munich is down to p2p only. From my experience (10 long haul flights a year) most of the passengers from Ljubljana to Munich were transfer passengers. I would assume similar situation would be for Belgrade too.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:16

      Munich was killed by Trump's decision to more or less ban transfers. Even UA isn't flying to MUC from ORD until 01.12.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:26

      The number of locals connecting in MUC to other European airports is far, far bigger than those connecting to the US.
      Unless we are allowed to travel freely to the EU we are going to lose more connections.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous09:34

      The Corona situation is getting worse everywhere in Europe. So expect more bans on entry and/or 14 day quarantines, not less.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous10:15

      5 days in Germany from middle of this month

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:05

    Winter is coming!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      you must be friends with the Bravo Hrvatska person

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:16

      And Montenegro keeps winning.

      The three musketeers.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:37

      Don't forget the "Ouch" guy :D

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:03

      and mr.notorious

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:06

    Maybe this could be a chance for Air Serbia to consider BEG-MUC, if there is any point.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      EU bans on entry of Serbian citizens need to be lifted first.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:37

      EU entry ban didn't stop them from launching Oslo when the opportunity presented itself.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:43

      Why they never lauched MUC? It is one of the most important airports for transfers in the region and it is a place with huge diaspora.

      Delete
    4. Norway is not an EU country...

      Delete
    5. Anonymous00:38

      ^ It is part of the EU free movement regime and has very similar rules to the EU - ie no entry to foreigners outside of EU.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous09:08

    LH will be flying FRA-BEG 10 weekly starting from next week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:16

      ...for now

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:20

      Taking in consideration that they cancelled MUC-BEG and re-routed many of the traffic from Bavarian capital to FRA I do not believe they would be reducing frequencies from FRA to BEG in the upcoming period.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:08

    That's unfortunate

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous09:08

    I hope they come back sooner.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:21

      Don't count on it. The situation is dire across Europe and at LH.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:26

      True dat!

      Delete
  8. Anonymous09:08

    So many airlines suspending flights to the region.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:10

      It is the EU's fault for banning locals from travel to Europe.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:14

      It's corona's fault. Croatians and Slovenians are not banned from entering Europe but flights are being suspended as well.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:20

      @Anonymous 09:14 Croatia and Slovenia are members of the EU so they can not be banned by the EU from entering it! :D

      Delete
  9. Anonymous09:09

    I'm amazed that they will be returning to Sarajevo in October, obviously good news but im still surprised considering the huge drop in passenger numbers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      Me too! but good news at least. SJJ has so few flights at the moment.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:15

      I would be cautious. They many change their minds in a few days.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous09:17

      Why are you surprised? Look at how few airlines are flying to SJJ right now.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous09:36

      It is one of the few airlines at Sarajevo that offers real connectivity to the world.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous17:57

      There is Austrian too.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous09:28

    Who would have thought 6 months ago any of these cities would loose such important connections to Germany.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous09:29

    "Last year, 328.534 passengers flew between Zagreb and Frankfurt"

    wow that's huge. Is this the no. 1 route from ZAG?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:33

      Yes it is. Ahead of DBV.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:36

      I mean ahead of Zagreb-Dubrovnik-Zagreb.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:29

      FRA ZAG numbers have fallen in recent years.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:32

      Of course they have when you have Korean Air and Air Canada Rouge that have started flying directly to Zagreb. Those passengers used to transfer, more often than not, with Lufthansa.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:34

      That is not true.

      In 2017 there was 26 weekly flight on ZAG-FRA
      Last year (2019) there was 35 weekly flights (5 per day) on ZAG-FRA

      Delete
    6. Anonymous17:57

      ^ I think he was talking about passenger numbers, not flight numbers.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous20:26

      Don't forget that LH has in recent time reduced capacity on ZAG-FRA. Before corona it was E-95 down from A320/321 that we had some years ago.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous09:36

    Good to see at least they will finally resume Sarajevo. I was fearing it wouldn't happen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous17:56

      Let's wait and see. In a similar way they put tickets on sale for July and then removed them.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous09:38

    I think Lufthansa won't resume Frankfurt-Zagreb. They will simply hand it over to Croatia Airlines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:40

      They'll be back.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:11

      We will have to wait and see. However, I don't think so.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous09:39

    So much for the LH Group and their commitment to the region.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:39

      They are committed to their pockets, as they should be.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:40

      What should they do? Fly empty planes?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:17

      People really need to open their eyes and realize that the world does not revolve around this region. Lufthansa is suspending countless routes. And yes that includes to much more prosperous countries of the world.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:30

      That's why it's good to have our local airlines who care about the region.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:46

      @10.30 by flying around empty? not sure if thats clever tbh

      Delete
  15. Anonymous09:40

    Thank goodness OU finally used an opportunity when it presented itself.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous09:40

    I wonder based on what they made a decision to keep MUC from some cities and FRA from the others.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:45

      Demand?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:08

      Demand, traffic flow and connections.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous09:45

    Not good.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous09:45

    Damn corona

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous09:45

    I hope these do actually resume next year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:51

      It's uncertain. We will see.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous09:51

    Are they keeping both FRA and MUC to Bucharest and Sofia over winter?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:53

      Bucharest and Sofia are EU airports so no bans.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:55

      So are Ljubljana and Zagreb....

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:00

      Ljubljana and Zagreb are far, far smaller cities and markets than Bucharest and Sofia,

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:22

      W6 made LH a huge favour by dropping FRA in SOF. They are now hoping to compensate from HHN but it's obviously not the same as FRA.
      Corona also prevented fourth daily FRA service resumption.
      I see however that LH is doing quite well on the BEG-MUC route and increased to 3 daily. Was hoping for more performance in LJU and ZAG, tbh. Both are developed EU capitals.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:45

      seriously: W6 and LH are two completely different markets

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:15

      They are, but not when it comes to key airports such as FRA or ORY, where there is serious O&D traffic. W6 had very few cheap tickets to FRA and used to operate daily.
      FRA is a quite expensive airport and not all the LCCs can afford it. It's a pity the discount offered by the airport to W6 finished but in reality FRA does not really need LCCs it seems.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous13:59

      Developed EU capitals?

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:59

      They're one of the smallest EU capitals.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous01:01

      Size doesn't matter. LJU and ZAG remain EU capitals and previously connected to important markets.
      Being an EU capital and connected to more destinations is simply remarkable.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous09:52

    This sucks. :/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:08

      Yes, corona sucks.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous09:55

    Ouch!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:07

      Was waiting for you :D

      Delete
  23. Anonymous10:08

    This is crazy

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous10:09

    Let's see what happens. Originally after the first wave of corona, LH didn't plan to resume Munich-Belgrade at all during the winter. Then they added the flights in July and now they removed them again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:13

      Well they explained it in the article: “The continuing high level of uncertainty in global air traffic makes short-term adjustments to the current market situation unavoidable for the foreseeable future. The outlook for international air traffic has significantly worsened in recent weeks "

      Delete
  25. Anonymous10:12

    Lufthansa is burning 500mio a month at the momemnt according their CEO and their advance booking for Oct were only at a level of 15% compared to last year. They have to be careful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:33

      Winter is trully coming!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous08:03

      Brrr

      Delete
  26. Anonymous10:16

    It's happening everywhere. It's not just ex-Yu flights Lufthansa is suspending.

    For example they are suspending 3 UK routes this winter. Frankfurt - Glasgow, Munich - Edinburgh
    and Munich - Newcastle

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous10:22

    from todays news in Germany "im aktuellen Winterflugplan für das vierte Quartal das Angebot voraussichtlich nur noch bei bis zu 30 Prozent liegen"

    they plan for Q4 to fly only 30% capacity of Q4'19

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:27

      wow that's really bad

      Delete
  28. Anonymous10:24

    That's considerable reduction in flights. Just wonder what are they doing in the rest of the region?! Are they still flying/reduced to Athens/Thessaloniki/Sofia/Tirana?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:38

      LH in ATH from FRA flies double daily and also codeshares on A3's flights.
      From MUC they flies to ATH triple daily and also codeshares on A3's flights.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:48

      Interestingly, they will enter both RJK and VAR from next spring as regular, scheduled flights.

      Frankfurt – Rijeka eff 08MAY21 1 weekly A320
      Frankfurt – Varna eff 01MAY21 2 weekly A320

      They were more operated as charters and you can even buy tickets with connections via FRA.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:56

      You missed the announcement
      https://www.exyuaviation.com/2020/09/lufthansa-to-launch-new-rijeka-service.html

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:11

      Must've missed that one! I am very happy for RJK. Just realised it has a very nice mix of legacy and LCC. Is there any chance to see more LH Group additions such as LX, SN and OS?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous19:13

      Would be nice. But long term planning and forecasts are not possible at the moment so who knows.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous12:37

    PLANdemic....

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous13:54

    I'm not surprised. LH has big problems at the moment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:12

      There isn't a single airline in the world that doesn't have big problems at the moment.

      Delete
  31. Anonymous13:54

    9 billion in state aid!! Mind blowing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19:11

      It's a big airline. And that state aid is mostly in the form of loans.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:39

      Do you know anything else about Germanys help to LH except they got 9 billion?

      Delete

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