Contributor - Europe

Cathy Buyck

Lufthansa Group said Monday it would extend flight cancellations on routes to mainland China into the summer schedule and warned it would cut the number of short- and medium-haul services by up to 25 percent in response to the accelerated spread of the Covid-19 virus across Europe.

 


The move comes as the European Commission launched a dedicated coronavirus response team and the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) raised its risk assessment of the novel coronavirus transmission in the region to a “moderate to high” in the coming weeks, with more countries expected to report more cases and clusters. As of March 2, authorities reported 2,199 cases and 38 deaths in the European Economic Area, the UK, Monaco, San Marino, and Switzerland. Europe now ranks second after Asia in the global distribution of Covid-19 cases and Italy ranks third in the list of countries with the most confirmed cases, after China and South Korea.

 


Ryanair and British Airways on Monday became the latest European operators to announce a major reduction of their schedules to address the downturn in business caused by the Covid-19 virus epidemic, joining counterparts like Wizz Air and easyJet. The Irish LCC said it&nbsp; plans to reduce costs and cut up to 25 percent of its Italian flight program, mainly to and from the county, for a three-week week period from March 17 to April 8 following a “significant drop in bookings.” The airline&nbsp;added it will “continue to monitor bookings carefully and will continue to flex its schedules in response to this developing situation.”

 


Lufthansa Group said changed demand in Europe, mainly to and from Italy, is driving a cutback in the number of short and medium-haul flights across its subsidiaries of up to 25 percent. Lufthansa will reduce frequencies in March on routes to Milan, Venice, Rome, Turin, Verona, Bologna, Ancona, and Pisa. Swiss International Airlines will “probably” continue flight frequencies reductions to and from Florence, Milan, Rome, and Venice until the end of April while Austrian Airlines has instituted a 40 percent reduction in its flight program to Italy in March and April.&nbsp;Brussels Airlines has cut its flights to Rome, Milan, Venice, and Bologna by 30 percent until March 14 and Eurowings reduced its flights to and from Venice, Bologna, and Milan until March 8.

 


Lufthansa is reducing frequencies on domestic routes from Frankfurt to Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, and Paderborn and from Munich to Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Bremen, and Hanover. On its long-haul operations, the German group decided to extend the suspension of flights between Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and mainland China until April 24. Flights to Hong Kong and Seoul will operate at lower frequencies between March 6 and April 24; flights to Tehran will remain suspended until April 30—authorities have reported &nbsp;978 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 54 deaths in Iran. Lufthansa Group said it would ground 23 widebodies due to the continued reduction of its long-haul flight program, <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2020-02-26/lufthansa-grounds-aircraft-and-freezes-hiring-virus-effect">up from 13 last month</a>.

 


Meanwhile, KLM decided to prolong the cancellation of its flights to Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Xiamen and lower flight frequency to Hong Kong until May 3.&nbsp; “The plan is to resume flights to Beijing and Shanghai in April,” the Dutch airline said.

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