The Lufthansa group is cancelling 20,000 short-haul flights through October to reduce fuel consumption following price hikes since the start of the war in Iran. The cuts represent about 1% of summer passenger capacity, saving approximately 40,000 tonnes of kerosene. Most affected flights are from the regional carrier Cityline, involving unprofitable routes from Frankfurt and Munich. Despite these cuts, the group plans to expand routes in Zurich, Vienna, and Brussels. Lufthansa also noted it is among the bidders for a stake in TAP Air Portugal and recently faced hundreds of cancellations due to cabin crew strikes in Germany.
Lufthansa cancels 20,000 short-haul flights until October to save fuel
Wednesday, 22 April 2026RSS
Context & Explainers
TAP Air Portugal is Portugal’s flag-carrier airline, founded on 14 March 1945 as Transportes Aéreos Portugueses. It began operations in 1946 with Lisbon–Madrid and quickly opened the long “Linha Aérea Imperial” to Angola and Mozambique, symbolically linking mainland Portugal to its overseas territories. TAP entered the jet age in the 1960s, became Europe’s first all‑jet airline in 1967, and rebranded as TAP Air Portugal in 1979. Nationalised after the 1974 Carnation Revolution, it went through cycles of partial privatisation and renationalisation, remaining a strategic state‑controlled company due to its role in connectivity, tourism, exports, and the Portuguese diaspora, especially to Brazil, Africa, and North America. Today TAP operates an all‑Airbus fleet from its Lisbon hub, marketing itself as a bridge between Europe, Africa, and the Americas and as a key economic and symbolic asset for Portugal.
