The Lufthansa Group, one of the largest airline groups maintaining services to markets across the former Yugoslavia, is preparing a further reduction of its European fleet as it seeks to improve the profitability of its short- and medium-haul operations. Lufthansa plans to ground between fifteen and twenty additional aircraft from 2027, potentially resulting in fewer services operated under its mainline brand. The German flag carrier has acknowledged that numerous routes within its European network remain loss-making, prompting further restructuring measures designed to reduce costs and improve efficiency. The planned aircraft groundings will build on earlier capacity cuts, which have included the cancellation of hundreds of flights and continued adjustments to Lufthansa’s fleet and network.
As a result, a greater proportion of flights could be operated by other Group carriers, including Lufthansa City Airlines, Eurowings and Discover Airlines. Lufthansa believes the redistribution of capacity will allow it to lower operating expenses while maintaining connectivity across its wider network. This winter, Air Dolomiti will operate flights between Munich and Zagreb for a limited period. From March 28, the carrier will also serve the Frankfurt - Ljubljana route alongside Lufthansa mainline. Meanwhile, plans to transfer the Munich - Belgrade service from Lufthansa mainline to Discover Airlines this winter have been put on hold.
During the 2026/27 winter season, which runs from October 25 until March 27, Lufthansa mainline will operate 2.542 flights in both directions to markets across the former Yugoslavia. This represents a decrease of 26.3% on the previous winter, or 907 fewer operations. The carrier will offer 382.644 seats during the season, down 13.8%, or 61.160 seats. The bulk of the reductions stems from the winter suspension of the Munich - Ljubljana service and the discontinuation of the Frankfurt - Skopje route, which operated last winter.
A reduction of 26% in flights to the region is significant. Lufthansa clearly no longer sees these markets as a priority.
ReplyDeleteThere are not enough PAX to fill flights to all their hubs. Clearly they want to leave some markets to VIE.
DeleteI see that LH no longer sees Slovenia and Macedonia as a priority
DeleteIt looks like the strategy is to replace Lufthansa with cheaper Group airlines wherever possible while continuing to charge Lufthansa prices.
ReplyDeleteto add to that: funnel everything to FRA and MUC as cheap as possible and then try to earn money on long-haul, especially in premium class
DeleteI predict that in next few years you will not see narrow body aircraft operating in LH colors any more. All you will see will be small sticker "operated on behalf of Lufthansa".
DeleteThis strategy also helps you get rid of expensive pilots
DeleteFor passengers, frequency is often more important than aircraft size. Fewer flights means fewer connecting options and longer waiting times at Frankfurt and Munich
ReplyDeleteAircraft size is of almost no importance to the average passenger. They haven't got a clue. Timings and price or price and timings are what most passengers look for.
DeleteI still can't believe there will be no Munich-Ljubljana in winter
ReplyDeleteMe neither. I keep thinking they will find some alternative solution but it looks unlikely at this point.
DeleteLufthansa has become far too expensive for the product it offers. Perhaps fewer aircraft and frequencies will help profitability, but it will not improve the passenger experience.
ReplyDeleteeveryone was saying IAG should fly more to the region, AF-KL should fly more to the region, look what Lufthansa is doing! The reality is that LH group is losing money in this market, it is obvious now, so no wonder that competition is not going even close to LH group in the region.
ReplyDeleteLufthansa City Airlines, Discover, Air Dolomiti… At this point you never know which airline will actually operate the flight you booked.
ReplyDeleteThe Lufthansa Group has too many overlapping brands and increasingly complicated operations. Simplification would probably save more money than constantly moving routes between airlines.
DeletePerhaps this will encourage Croatia Airlines to add more frequencies and retain a larger share of connecting traffic itself.
ReplyDeleteIt's too early
DeleteThat livery should become permanent. Looks great
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWith increased and increasing fuel prices, another round of consolidation in the European Airspace in inevitable. Not even the big ones like LH or Ryanair are immune to this let alone smaller ones.
ReplyDeleteExamples like Airbaltic who filed for chapter 11 bankrutcy yesterday will become even more frequent.
True unfortunately
DeletePassengers book Lufthansa and end up flying with whichever subsidiary happens to be operating the route that month.
ReplyDeleteAs long as the aircraft is modern, the crew is professional and connections are protected, the name painted on the plane makes little difference to me.
DeleteL
It does make a difference when you pay for Lufthansa and receive a leisure carrier or a lower-cost subsidiary instead.
DeleteThe service on board is the same.
DeleteNot really. Does Discover have wifi on planes?
Deletepassengers care more about punctuality and reliable connections than whether the aircraft has wifi on an hour 10 miinute flight.
DeleteThe service on board is definitely not the same and some don’t even give water, you book LH and get LCC
Delete@09:43 so dont book, simple as.
DeleteThere is a difference also for Miles and More holders, e.g. when you are Frequent Traveler booked on Air Dolomiti and want to access the lounge, you will be disappointed, no access allowed.
DeleteI know these are the first world problems, but - like many others - I hate paying premium prices for inferior product. Ex-Yu and the Balkans in general are threated like some secondary market (to no surprise, I guess).
Perhaps Lufthansa should concentrate on fixing its mainline operation instead of creating more subsidiaries and constantly transferring routes between them.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing wrong with Air Dolomiti. In my experience, its service is often friendlier than Lufthansa’s.
ReplyDeleteWhat is a friendlier service?
DeleteWell first thing is that the crew is Italian
DeleteThem being Italian does not make them friendlier 😀
DeleteMy anecdotal experience also shows that the Air Dolomiti crew is friendlier than LH. LH is very correct. Nothing more, nothing less.
DeleteThis is clearly about reducing labour costs while maintaining the appearance of a full Lufthansa network.
ReplyDeleteThe next step will probably be Lufthansa operating only the most profitable routes while subsidiaries handle everything else.
ReplyDeleteI still cannot understand why they are cutting Ljubljana Munich flights for the winter. Were they still not profitable even if the flights were pretty much full (at least from my experience)?
ReplyDeleteWell they didn't want to operate the flights before adria went bankrupt because it was apparently unprofitable.
DeleteThe aircraft type and operating carrier has changed several times since I booked a ticket with them a few months ago. Who knows what happens by the time I'm supposed to fly them in 3 weeks.
ReplyDeleteDoes it really matter? I mean seriously bigger issues on earth
DeleteAir Dolomiti has operated feeder flights for Lufthansa for years, so this is hardly new. The difference now is the scale of the outsourcing.
ReplyDeleteDiscover on Munich–Belgrade never made much sense. That route is primarily about business passengers and hub connections, not holiday traffic.
ReplyDeleteIt's not about the brand. It's about the crew which are on cheaper contracts so it reduces costs of the flight.
Delete@09:41 lufhansa dont care about that. They care about costs like all airlines should.
DeleteLufthansa wants the flexibility of a LCC while continuing to market itself as a premium network carrier.
ReplyDeleteThis
DeleteThis is becoming similar to the railway industry. One company sells the ticket, another operates the service and a third provides the staff.
ReplyDeleteAt least passengers travelling from Belgrade will retain Lufthansa mainline this winter. Whether that remains the case from 2027 is another question.
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to see Discover livery in BEG to be honest.
DeleteThey will never recover from ITA.
ReplyDeleteLH cuts to make room for AZ?
ReplyDeleteYet they are no where to be seen in our region.
DeleteI'm really surprised by that.
DeleteIt is hard to explain such thing to shortsighted people. They just continue to pursue Air Berlin and Air Italia now ITA business models.
DeleteThe Lufthansa Group risks weakening its strongest asset which is a brand passengers once associated with consistency and reliability.
ReplyDelete👌
DeleteThose who fly frequently already know that for economy passengers LH is a LCC product for legacy price.
DeleteThere goes any chance of LH launching PRN.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, Lufthansa just isn’t what it used to be anymore.
ReplyDeleteI recently (3 weeks ago) flew DUB–FRA–HKG–SYD–AKL–LAX–MUC–DUB, with Lufthansa operating DUB–FRA, FRA–HKG, LAX–MUC and MUC–DUB (Lufthansa City), and I have to say I was really disappointed with the overall experience. The A380 cabin was particularly disappointing honestly, I found it worse than the Lufthansa's City A320neo. 😕 I also don’t think Lufthansa’s Premium Economy offers good value for the money you pay.And the delays… just not acceptable. I’ve always had a pretty good impression of Lufthansa, but after this trip, I’m definitely thinking twice about choosing them again. Maybe I was just unlucky, but this was far from the experience I expected from Lufthansa. After experience I had recently , this news doesnt suprice me.
Agree with you. They have gone downhill big time
DeleteOn my flight from SFO to MUC, I called the Lufthansa cabin crew, and it took 37 minutes and 32 seconds, according to my stopwatch, for a crew member to attend to me. I find this concerning, particularly because a passenger could potentially be feeling unwell or require urgent assistance. Is this response time considered acceptable?
DeleteInterestingly, my experience with Air New Zealand on the domestic AKL–ZQN–AKL route, operated by an A320, was noticeably better. The cabin, crew service, and overall hospitality felt more attentive and professional than what I experienced with Lufthansa on this long-haul flight.
Regarding the Lufthansa crew, I unfortunately came away with the impression that they were disengaged and unhappy in their roles. I appreciate that cabin crew work can be demanding, but the overall level of attentiveness and hospitality did not meet the standard I would expect from a major international airline (especially for the amount of money that I spent with them).
Vienna could be the biggest beneficiary of these cuts. Austrian Airlines already has a stronger presence than Lufthansa in much of the region.
ReplyDeleteLOT should have used this opportunity. Instead they are shrinking in the region too.
DeleteJU is slowly but steadily pushing them out. One by one
Delete@11.05 - do not get overly excited by JU pushing them out. Obviously JU opening new routes has some impact on the other legacy airlines. At the same time, the fact that all of them start cutting their network with the Balkans routes only shows how price-sensetiv this region is.
DeleteLufthansa has spent years cutting costs, yet its short-haul operation is still loss-making. At some point management must question whether the strategy itself is working.
ReplyDelete