Lufthansa is discontinuing an important route to China. The competition can also fly significantly faster and cheaper for political reasons.
In view of tough competition, Lufthansa is discontinuing its daily connection from Frankfurt to the Chinese capital Beijing. As of the winter flight schedule starting next Sunday (October 27th), the route will temporarily no longer be served for economic reasons, says a company spokeswoman in Frankfurt.
However, Lufthansa continues to offer a daily direct connection to Beijing via its second hub in Munich. The Airbus A350, a more modern aircraft with lower fuel costs, is used on this route. Older Airbus A340s were recently used from Frankfurt.
The background to the route cancellation is international competition. The Lufthansa Group has often complained about the unequal competition with providers from China, Turkey and the Persian Gulf. The airlines from these countries benefited from low location costs, low social standards and high government investments in the aviation sector. In addition, they continue to use the airspace over Russia, which is boycotted by Western companies, so that they have further cost advantages from shorter routes.
Source: Stern
