Lufthansa Airlines chief Jens Ritter has warned that rising operating costs could lead to the suspension of additional flight connections from German airports. “If connections become unprofitable, we are forced to reduce routes and deploy the aircraft elsewhere,” he told newspapers of the Funke Media Group (Wednesday editions).
“The list of airports that we have to take into consideration from a business perspective is long: Bremen, Dresden, Cologne, Leipzig, Münster, Nuremberg, Stuttgart – just to name a few.”
Ritter also expressed disappointment over unfulfilled commitments from the federal government. “It is very disappointing that the federal government is not planning any relief for flights from Germany in the draft budget for 2026,” he said. In their coalition agreement, the Union and SPD had previously promised concessions to the aviation industry.
The Union and SPD had agreed in their coalition contract to reduce “aviation-specific taxes, fees and charges” and to reverse “the increase in the aviation tax.” This increase came into effect in May 2024. For short-haul flights, the tax per ticket rose from €12.48 to €15.53, for medium-haul from €31.61 to €39.34, and for long-haul from €56.91 to €70.83.
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