Germany news: Lufthansa cancels 20,000 flights

After announcing the closure of its CityLine subsidiary last week, German major airline Lufthansa confirmed on Wednesday that the move will lead to the cancellation of 20,000 flights between now and October.

“Unprofitable” short-haul routes that have been closed “at least temporarily” include connections from Lufthansa’s Frankfurt hub to Bydgoszcz and Rzeszow in Poland and Stavanger in Norway.

Ten further connections to Herringsdorf and Stuttgart (Germany), Gdańsk and Wrocław (Poland), Cork (Ireland), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Rijeka (Croatia), Sibiu (Romania), Trondheim (Norway) and Tivat (Montenegro) will be re-routed via other Lufthansa hubs, including, in addition to Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Zurich, Including Brussels. And Rome.

Lufthansa said it would provide more details about its “flight optimization plan” at the end of April, but so far the cancellations will save more than 40,000 tonnes of kerosene, the price of which has doubled since the start of the US-Israeli war over Iran.

The airline stressed that it expects “stable fuel commission” for its summer holiday flight plans.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Wednesday presented his strategy for the future development of the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces.

Senior Social Democrats (SPD) said Germany aimed to develop “the strongest conventional army in Europe” and described Russia as the main threat.

“With its revival, [Russia] “NATO is preparing for military confrontation and views the use of military force as a legitimate means to enforce its interests,” Pistorius said in a policy document.

He said Moscow was increasingly using “hybrid means” such as espionage, sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns to wage war.

“In the short term, we are increasing our capabilities in defense and resilience,” Pistorius said. “In the medium term, we are aiming for a significant overall increase in our capabilities and in the long term, we will establish technological superiority.”

Good morning! Welcome to our coverage of what Germany is talking about on Wednesday, April 22.

German major airline Lufthansa has announced it is canceling 20,000 flights, at least partly due to rising fuel prices amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, after axing its CityLine subsidiary.

In the meantime, however, Frankfurt International Airport is set to officially open its new Terminal 3, which is expected to pass through approximately 19 million passengers per year.

And in Berlin, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has presented his strategy for the future of Germany’s armed forces.

Want to know what was happening in Germany on Tuesday? You can catch it here.