BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's flagship airline Lufthansa will not be able to expand its flight plan as much as planned as it struggles to crank up capacity amid unplanned engine overhauls and delivery delays, CEO Carsten Spohr told a German paper.
Some 20 of Lufthansa's 450 Airbus A320 will be grounded in 2024 due to engine overhauls, Spohr told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
"We will slightly adjust the flight plan for 2024 and slightly reduce the originally planned growth," he said.
Lufthansa had said at the start of November the offer should reach 91% of pre-pandemic levels in the final quarter, and 95% next year.
Spohr said it would take several years for supply chains to work as before the coronavirus pandemic and Lufthansa to be able to put its ordered airplanes to use.
The CEO said Lufthansa was investing more than ever, including more than 3 billion euros each year just for new airplanes, in a bid to crank up capacity.
"So far, 200 planes have been ordered and we are currently negotiating a further big contract for 80 short-haul airplanes," he said.
Spohr said he was against the German government's plans to introduce a tax on kerosene fuel for domestic flights, saying Lufthansa was already dealing with too many new charges which was dampening air travel and putting it at a competitive disadvantage.
Air travel was at just 80% of pre-pandemic levels, whereas it was as high or even higher than them in other European countries like France, Spain and Italy, he said.