Lufthansa Group has initiated several measures to navigate soaring fuel costs and the impact of strikes, including the closure of subsidiary carrier Lufthansa CityLine.
On April 16, 2026, Lufthansa said that with fuel prices increasing “significantly” it had “partially accelerated” plans to reduce capacity as well as plans for “early fleet modernization”.
The Group said that the proposed actions were “unavoidable in light of the sharply increased kerosene costs and geopolitical instability”.
Firstly, Lufthansa will permanently remove the 27 operational aircraft of regional German carrier Lufthansa CityLine beginning on April 18, 2025. Lufthansa said its aim was “to reduce further losses of the loss-making airline”.
Till Streichert, Chief Financial Officer and CFO of Lufthansa Group, said that the company had already “identified the prospective removal of CityLine” as part of its strategic development for some time, “independently of the current geopolitical crisis”.
“The current crisis is now forcing us to implement this measure earlier. This is a painful step, particularly with regard to the colleagues at Lufthansa CityLine. It is therefore all the more important now to find continued employment opportunities within the Group,” added Streichert.
Against the background of the scheduled end of flight operations of the Canadair jets at Lufthansa CityLine by the end of the year, and a possible termination of all flight operations anyway, Lufthansa had already made offers for follow-up employment within the Group.
Ground staff have already received employment at the newly founded Lufthansa Aviation GmbH,
cockpit and cabin crew were already offered transfer options at the turn of 2024/2025, which provided for employment at Lufthansa City Airlines.
Secondly, Lufthansa will retire the last four remaining Airbus A340-600s and temporarily ground two Boeing 747-400s for the winter. The final farewell to this aircraft type is planned for next year.
Thirdly, Lufthansa Group will reduce Lufthansa Airlines’ core brand’s short- and medium-haul program by five aircraft.
“The early retirement of older aircraft types also corresponds to the strategy of reducing the number of different sub-fleets as quickly as possible. The planned allocation of nine additional Airbus A350s to Discover Airlines is taking place within the framework of medium-term fleet planning,” said a Lufthansa Group spokesperson.
The fuel consumption of the Lufthansa Group’s passenger airlines is hedged at an above-average rate of around 80% based on crude oil prices.
However, the remaining 20% must still be purchased at significantly increased market prices. This particularly expensive portion of fuel requirements will be reduced by around 10%.
“The package of measures generates a disproportionate savings effect on fuel costs. On the one hand, particularly inefficient aircraft are being removed from flight operations early. On the other hand, the saved kerosene quantity reduces the unhedged portion of the Group’s fuel requirements,” added the spokesperson.