High ticket prices make Lufthansa boss ‘fun’

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The environment is currently favorable for airlines. While flight demand is at the same level as before Corona, airlines are still quite conservative in their capacity planning. Next summer, Lufthansa and Swiss will offer only 85 to 90 percent of capacities compared to 2019 before Corona. Current high flight prices are the result, as demand is greater than current supply.

Now Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr (56) is causing irritation with sharp words, as the “Aargauer Zeitung” reports: Spohr told analysts that the group is in no hurry to build capacity because “right now the high yields are a lot of fun”. , as “Bloomberg” first noted.

Efficiency directly refers to the highest possible efficiency per seat served, not the highest possible fare for passengers. The better the aircraft is handled, the higher the efficiency. In simple language, this means that high airfares and full planes can be expected for a while. Spohr himself explains: “Capacities will remain limited in the coming years, while demand will continue to rise. We expected that.”

Capacity increase affected by many factors

The word choice is unfortunate. We can interpret this in such a way that airlines are not in the mood to offer more affordable prices to consumers. But that’s understandable after two epidemic years where earnings have drastically declined.

Spohr also states that airlines are not alone and are deliberately blocking capacity expansion. Manufacturing difficulties at aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing, lack of engines and components, and general shortages of pilots and airport personnel are also slowing the rise. Also, rising interest rates make it harder for airlines to finance new planes.

However, the aviation umbrella organization (Iata) assumes earnings will fall again in 2023. And with it the flight prices.

Source :Blick