(Reuters) – Aircraft delivery problems are having a “brutal” impact on Lufthansa and will not be resolved before 2030, the German airline’s CEO Carsten Spohr warned on Friday.
The plane shortage could cost Lufthansa around 500 million euros a year, the executive told the Stuttgart Business Press Club, without providing an exact figure.
The airline, which is looking to modernise its fleet, has ordered 250 new aircraft from Airbus and Boeing, with deliveries scheduled between 2024 and 2029.
“No planes are arriving on time,” Spohr said, adding that about 100 of Lufthansa’s 750 planes were grounded for maintenance or had been taken out of service.
Earlier this week, Airbus lowered its delivery forecasts for this year, from 800 to around 770 aircraft. The announcement comes amid growing skepticism among suppliers about aircraft production as Airbus faces shortages of spare parts. At the same time, a series of incidents at Boeing has intensified regulatory surveillance work on the American manufacturer, adding to delivery delays accumulated during the pandemic.
(Reporting Ilona Wissenbach; written by Paolo Laudani; French version Mathias de Rozario, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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