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Lufthansa boss: German airports are at risk of collapse!
Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr warns of further flight schedule cuts in Germany and calls for urgent government measures to strengthen competition.
Lufthansa boss: German airports are at risk of collapse!
Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr is concerned about the future situation of the German aviation industry. In a recent interview, he expressed serious concerns about the connectivity of Germany as a business location and highlighted that ever-increasing government costs are having a direct impact on flight connections. “The extremely increased state costs in air transport are leading to a further shrinking offer,” explained Spohr to “Bild am Sonntag”. These statements are no coincidence, as reports of flight cancellations are actually increasing.
Recently, both the Irish airline Ryanair and the Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings have canceled numerous connections. The main reason for these drastic measures is the high costs incurred at German airports. These include not only flight fees, but also the air traffic tax, which was increased in May, as well as fees for security checks and air traffic control. The airline industry has been on alert in recent months as costs continue to rise.
Reactions from the industry
In a similar way, the Union criticizes the current policy. Anja Karliczek, the tourism spokeswoman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, explained that “government action, especially in recent years, has gone too far.” She called for a reversal of the recently increased aviation tax and warned that Germany would be left behind as an aviation location as long as the number of connections continued to decline and costs increased at the same time.
Spohr himself also criticized the fact that further government regulations are being planned, such as the introduction of an admixture quota for e-fuels. These synthetically produced fuels are intended to help reduce aircraft CO2 emissions. Spohr emphasized that it is questionable whether sufficient e-fuels will be available and warned that this could have a negative impact on the quality of connections for many important economic regions in Germany.
The industry association BDL demands that the income from the increased aviation tax should flow into the promotion of alternative aviation fuels. This demand is underpinned by the traffic light government's coalition agreement, which promises to use revenue from the aviation tax for the development and use of CO2-neutral electricity-based aviation fuels as well as for research and fleet modernization. This could be an important step towards making the aviation industry more sustainable while counteracting the financial burden.
Ultimately, German airlines and airports face major challenges. The future of air transport in Germany could depend crucially on political decisions that are made now. As current developments show, a solution is necessary to secure competitiveness and flight connections in the country. Spohr's warnings and the industry's demands are clear indicators that action must be taken quickly to prevent the air traffic situation from deteriorating further.
Details on this topic can be found in a detailed report on www.finanzen.net.