Fraport looks to reduce flights at Frankfurt airport

Frankfurt airport operator Fraport said Friday it would seek to cut the number of flights from the European hub as a personnel shortage caused widespread disruptions across the industry.

Fraport would apply to the German transport ministry at the beginning of next week to “reduce the number of flights per hour from 96 to 88”, a spokeswoman said.

The operator’s decision was “right”, said Jens Ritter, the brand CEO of German national carrier Lufthansa, which uses Frankfurt as a base.

Forced cancellations had “disappointed many thousand customers, caused enormous additional work for our employees and additional costs in the millions (of euros)”, Ritter said in a statement.

Lufthansa has had to strike several thousand flights from its schedule in recent weeks because of the disruption, including services to and from Frankfurt.

Other airlines “will now also contribute” to the stabilisation of services at the airport, Ritter said.

Talks with those airlines would “intensify” after Fraport’s application had been approved, the spokeswoman said.

Travel demand has roared back as coronavirus restrictions have eased, far outstripping capacity that had been pared back during the pandemic.

Other European airports and airlines are also struggling with bottlenecks and staff shortages, leading to long queues and travel disruptions during the peak summer period.

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