FRANKFURT, July 4 (Reuters) – A ban on night flights at
Frankfurt has caused Lufthansa to withdraw its service
to Cape Town this winter, the German national airline said on
Wednesday.
Imposed eight months ago, a strict ban on flights after 11
pm leaves no leeway when it comes to weather or medical delays
and has resulted in over 10,000 passengers being stranded
overnight in Frankfurt since the ban took effect, Lufthansa
manager Kay Kratky said.
The night flight ban is an extra headache for Lufthansa,
which is currently cutting costs to battle low-cost competition
and rising fuel prices.
“Cape Town will no longer be served from Frankfurt this
winter because we can’t leave our passengers stranded,” said
Kratky, in charge of flight operations at Lufthansa’s passenger
airlines division.
He cited the example of a plane due to fly to Johannesburg
being forced to turn round on the Franfurt tarmac last Thursday
night after a problem loading a container.
Instead, the Cape Town flight will be shifted to Munich,
which itself has been dealt a blow to expansion plans after a
proposed third runway was voted down by residents.
“Munich will start hitting bottlenecks in three, four or
five years’ time,” Kratky, a former pilot, said. “But we have
those problems in Frankfurt now.”
Lufthansa has previously warned the restrictions at
Frankfurt could lead it to shift investment elsewhere to seek
growth. “Our ability to compete depends on being able to scale
up,” Kratky said.
(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
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