Carsten Spohr is the Chief Executive Officer of Lufthansa. He spoke out to support the airline industry and argued that connectivity is the most important concern. The CEO stated that despite the challenges posed by geopolitics and economics, the world must remain connected more than ever.
CNN Business’ Carsten Spohr stated that airspace closures in Europe and the surrounding areas were causing significant headaches for his Frankfurt-based airline.Rerouting traffic southbound or homebound is a difficult task. In our case, we are returning from Tokyo. We are leaving Tokyo eastbound to reach Greenland, which will take us to Europe. This is something we have not done in decades.
Because of the lighter intercontinental traffic, the current Lufthansa solution is possible
Lufthansa CEO, however, saw a silver lining in lighter intercontinental air traffic between Europe, Asia and North America due to the pandemic’s lingering effects. He said that lighter traffic made their current Ukraine-Russia workarounds possible.
“It is fair to say that all this is possible only because there are so few flights from Europe to Asia. Normal volumes would pose huge operational challenges. The industry would find a solution. However, right now, customers have enough airspace to provide the service they need, even though flight times can be up to two hours longer.” Carsten Spoor said.
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr. Photo: Lufthansa
Connectivity is more important than environmental concerns
Lufthansa’s CEO stated that connectivity is more important than both economic and environmental concerns when the conversation turned to longer flights.
“We all agree that connectivity in this situation is a higher priority, including passengers onboard. We cannot afford to be cut off from Asia, and the same goes for the US. It is a testament to the value of our industry. Even with additional financial or environmental burdens, connectivity is crucial for keeping the world peaceful. And it’s our industry providing it.”He said.
Carsten Spohr made the argument that European airlines should not be disadvantaged by addressing sustainability challenges.
“As Europeans, we’re not able to defend ourselves anymore, we’re not able to provide our own energy anymore,” During an Airlines for Europe meeting, he spoke. “Let’s at least make sure we can connect ourselves.” Mr Spoor teamed up with competitors from IAG, easyJet, and Ryanair to call for more state support to help decarbonize the airline industry.
According to the CEO of Lufthansa, connectivity is more important than ever in uncertain times. Photo: Lufthansa
People continue to fly, despite security concerns in Europe
The security crisis in Europe reinforces the need to address environmental concerns, not just in the aviation industry, but across Europe. Priorities of top priority include protecting property (in this example, aircraft) and maintaining liquidity. Lufthansa is optimistic that at least the upcoming Easter holidays can boost the former.
Lufthansa expects 225,000 passengers to fly in and around Frankfurt on its 1,500 flights over the first weekend of the holidays. Although the sunshine destinations of the Mediterranean are in high demand, Lufthansa reports that bookings to its US destinations is strong. The good news is that these US flights won’t have to be rerouted, and will not emit more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than normal.
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