Lufthansa boss angry about kerosene tax
Following the end of the coronavirus pandemic, air traffic in Germany is growing more slowly than in other European countries. The Lufthansa CEO is also announcing a thinned-out service for next year. Spohr does not believe in the traffic light plans for a kerosene tax.
The German airline Lufthansa rejects the German government's planned kerosene tax on domestic German flights and fears that this will put it at a competitive disadvantage. "An additional domestic German tax would then act like an economic stimulus program for connecting flights outside Germany," Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr told the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" newspaper. "We are already seeing effects: While air traffic in other European countries, such as France, Spain or Italy, is back at or even above the 2019 level, we are only reaching 80 percent in Germany due to the highest location burdens," criticized Spohr.
The Lufthansa CEO added that the German government had recently emphasized that shifting traffic to hubs abroad would be detrimental to Germany and should be avoided. The current political plans contradict this, he said. It was only in 2020 that the air traffic tax was drastically increased, and last week it was decided to raise aviation security fees by up to 50 percent from 2025. In addition, there are serious burdens due to EU climate protection policy. "Berlin and Brussels are about to overtighten the cost screw," warned Spohr in an interview with the newspaper.
Bottlenecks with personnel and aircraft
The Lufthansa CEO also announced that the problems in the aviation industry would continue to weigh on the company in the coming year. Although the demand for air travel is high, it is coming up against a reduced supply. Lufthansa will also suffer from this. Spohr cited bottlenecks in personnel and available aircraft as reasons for this. In addition to the aircraft manufacturers' delivery problems, there are now also unplanned engine overhauls for a certain engine of the Airbus A320. Over the course of the year, 20 of the 450 aircraft of this type will be missing.
"We will adjust the flight schedule for 2024 slightly and reduce the originally planned growth slightly. Next year, we will continue to prioritize quality over excessive growth - despite the high global demand," Spohr told SZ. The aim is to increase quality and eliminate complaints. Spohr: "We always want to be better by the amount by which we are more expensive due to our location."
Lufthansa already had to revise its flight plans in 2022 and 2023 when it restarted after coronavirus because its own team and service providers were unable to meet the requirements. Tens of thousands of flights were canceled early, and air traffic in Germany did not grow as quickly as in other European countries.
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Despite Lufthansa's CEO, Carsten Spohr, expressing opposition to the German government's proposed kerosene tax on domestic flights due to competitive disadvantages and potentially shifting traffic abroad, the aviation security fees are set to increase by up to 50% from 2025. Nevertheless, Spohr anticipates challenges for Lufthansa in the coming year, with bottlenecks in personnel and aircraft leading to a reduced supply, causing the company to slightly adjust its 2024 flight schedule and prioritize quality over excessive growth.
Source: www.ntv.de
