Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International) has cancelled a further 2,200 of a total of around 80,000 flights at its hubs in Frankfurt International and Munich for the summer following staff shortages resulting from short-notice sick calls from crews in the wake of increased COVID-19 infections in Germany.

"The cancellations will affect domestic German and intra-European flights in particular, but not the classic vacation destinations that are well booked during the vacation season. In addition, there may also be changes to the flight departure times," the airline said in a statement.

A few weeks ago, Lufthansa already removed more than 900 flights from the system for July, which affected schedules on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Subsidiary Eurowings (EW, Düsseldorf) was also forced to take several hundred flights out of the system to stabilise its service for July, while Swiss (LX, Zurich) cancelled about 100 flights in July and August, affecting around 30,000 passengers.

This comes as the aviation industry, especially in Europe, struggles with airport bottlenecks and staff shortages, particularly among security personnel, ground handling services, and air traffic control strikes. In the most controversial case, Amsterdam Schiphol has cut 13,500 seats daily between July 6 and August 28, 2022, with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol) warning it will hold the airport responsible for any losses. British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) has cut its summer schedule by 10% as a result of staff shortages, while easyJet (London Luton) has consolidated flights at London Gatwick in response to a cap introduced by the airport for the 2022 summer holiday period following staff shortages that have resulted in long queues, flight delays, and cancellations.

"Lufthansa has implemented numerous measures and is recruiting additional staff as much as possible to ensure the greatest possible stability of the flight schedule and thus offer its passengers the best possible planning reliability," the German airline said. Flights would be primarily cancelled if passengers could be offered a corresponding travel alternative by air or rail.

"ATC strikes, weather events and, in particular, an increased COVID-19 sickness rate have now put additional strain on the system. The nationwide increase in the number of COVID infections is not sparing Lufthansa and its employees. In recent days, there have been short-notice sick calls from our crews. These industry-wide challenges have led to airlines across Europe having to take more flights out of the system, including Lufthansa, to be able to cover traffic peaks, " the carrier said.