Overview

• CEO Jens Ritter criticized the government for failing to deliver promised relief and warned Lufthansa will cut routes and redeploy aircraft if services turn unprofitable.
• Locations under review include Bremen, Dresden, Cologne, Leipzig, Münster, Nuremberg and Stuttgart, which he listed as examples of airports at risk.
• Lufthansa reports a 40% rise in arrival and departure fees this year and a 25% increase in air-navigation charges, calling the burden unsustainable.
• Industry data from BDF show state-related per‑departure costs have climbed by up to 128% since 2019, with Stuttgart at €5,109 for an intra‑EU flight and Frankfurt and Berlin also far above many European hubs.
• The governing coalition had pledged to reduce aviation levies and roll back the 2024 ticket-tax increase, the tourism coordinator backs a cut, and the finance ministry has not commented on the airline’s criticism.