(March 10): Deutsche Lufthansa AG said it’s adding flights to Asia and Africa amid increased long-haul demand, as customers seek alternatives to Middle East carriers like Emirates or Qatar Airways hamstrung by air-space closures at home.
Lufthansa will add flights at short notice from Germany to Singapore, Cape Town and Riyadh, it said on Tuesday in a statement. Its Austrian Airlines subsidiary has already arranged 10 special return flights from Vienna to Bangkok, the company added.
The move follows British Airways, which has added flights from London to Singapore and Bangkok this week. Air France-KLM has meanwhile deployed bigger jets on flights from a number of cities in Asia including Tokyo, Shanghai and Mumbai in response to increased demand and flight cancellations by Middle Eastern airlines.
The dislocations caused by the war in Iran and the ensuing air-space disruptions are providing European airlines with a rare chance to claw back some business lost to the likes of Emirates or Qatar Airways, which have long siphoned off passengers by providing convenient transfer options in Dubai and Doha.
“This is understandable opportunism by European carriers,” said John Strickland, an aviation analyst at JLS Consulting. “If you have planes sitting spare then it’s logical to try to redeploy them and take the opportunity.”
Lufthansa has been among the most vocal airlines seeking government support to stave off an even bigger incursion into its home market. Emirates has plans to add flights between Berlin and Dubai, Bloomberg has reported, a move that would put Lufthansa’s lucrative Asian destinations in peril.
See also: Asian airlines raise fares, mull groundings as fuel crunch looms — Bloomberg
Europe’s smaller airlines are also taking note. Norse Atlantic Airways has added two flights between London and Bangkok, a spokesman said.
Over the past few years, European airlines have thinned out their offerings to parts of Asia, hurt by their inability to fly over Russian airspace — a corridor that the likes of Emirates still use — and the higher fuel costs that come with longer routes. Africa, while a much smaller aviation market than other global regions, has also become a main focal point for Middle Eastern carriers as well as Turkish Airlines, which serves multiple locations on the continent.
Uploaded by Felyx Teoh
