According to Germany's Der Spiegel, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr recently revealed at an employee event in Munich that the airline is considering suspending its Frankfurt-Beijing route.
Following British Airways' suspension of its Beijing flights and Virgin Atlantic and Qantas halting their services to Shanghai, Lufthansa, a major European airline, is set to follow in their footsteps.
Lufthansa cited three reasons for this decision:
*Decreased demand - Primarily due to the continued stagnation of business travel.
*Russian airspace restriction – With Russia closing its airspace to most European airlines, Lufthansa’s flights have to take longer, adding two extra hours to the journey and increasing operational costs.
*Competition from Chinese airlines - During Lufthansa's Q2 earnings call, CEO Spohr attributed the company's weak performance in the Chinese market to overcapacity from Chinese carriers.
Germany's Bundesbank reported that German investments in China hit a record €7.3 billion in the first half of 2024. However, visa policies have not been favorable for Chinese travelers.
Recently, 300 German companies appealed to Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in a letter, urging the government to streamline the visa process for their Chinese employees.