Leipzig. The airline Lufthansa and its subsidiary Eurowings are removing Leipzig / Halle Airport from their flight schedules for the time being. As the company confirmed on Wednesday, the airport will no longer be operated until the summer of 2021.
The reason for this is the collapse in demand: “Against the background of the tightening travel regulations in connection with the corona pandemic, we are not assuming a prompt recovery in demand,” said a spokesman.
Both airlines had already significantly reduced their flights to and from Leipzig / Halle in the summer. The last connections to Munich and Dusseldorf have now been removed from the flight plan.
Since September 7th, Lufthansa has offered the connection to Munich up to eleven times a week. According to the Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG, which operates the Leipzig and Dresden airports, passengers from the region use Lufthansa connections almost exclusively to travel to destinations in Europe or worldwide via Munich.
“Due to the still valid travel warnings, strict entry regulations in many destination countries and the current rise in the number of infections, Lufthansa cannot serve its extensive route network, which leads to correspondingly low demand on this connection,” said company spokesman Uwe Schuhart. Travelers with the destination Munich mostly resorted to means of transport such as the train or the car.
Lufthansa is currently planning a resumption of the flight schedule for the coming summer. Saxony’s Transport Minister Martin Dulig and Leipzig’s Lord Mayor Burkhard Jung (both SPD) insist on maintaining the flight connections.
According to the Ministry of Transport, the minister wrote a letter to the Lufthansa Executive Board. The Leipzig mayor said: “A congress and science city without direct flight connections is unthinkable.”
Lufthansa currently flies from Dresden to Frankfurt / Main and Munich. Eurowings will continue to fly from the state capital to Düsseldorf and Stuttgart. From December onwards, Cologne / Bonn Airport will also be served again from there. (with dpa)
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