Lufthansa provided further evidence that some airlines are
abandoning their cautious capacity strategies from the recession by announcing
on Monday that its winter 2010/11 schedule will offer 9.1 percent more seats
than last year. The significant expansion results from a combination of 3.5 percent
more weekly flights, providing 12,218 seats, and the introduction of larger
aircraft, including four Airbus A380s, to its long-haul and regional fleets.
Figures from airline schedule publisher OAG indicated that seat
numbers globally were up 11 percent in September 2010, but the relentless
expansion of Middle Eastern carriers and the Asian market created much of the
growth. Airlines in Europe and, in particular, the United States appeared much
more restrained.
Airline analyst Chris Tarry said that large increases in
capacity, especially through using bigger aircraft, could bring fares down. "Broadly
speaking, if you switch to a larger aircraft and are flying it with the same
crew, then it is not going to cost the airline any more, so it ought to be able
to offer cheaper seats," he said. "The rules of economics apply. If
you look at the U.S., we have seen another month of capacity being constrained
and revenue per mile has gone up 19 percent compared with the year before."
Lufthansa board member Karl Ulrich Garnadt said, "Most
of the growth in capacity is due to the new larger regional aircraft as well as
to our new flagship, the A380. On top of that, we are achieving even higher
productivity as a result of improved capacity utilization. The increased
capacity reflects the impact of the changed seat configuration of our new
product on European routes."
Germany's flag carrier is adding three routes to its network
for the winter schedule, which starts on Oct. 31: Frankfurt-Bogotá, Munich-Luxembourg
and one between Frankfurt and Pointe Noire of the Republic of the Congo, which
will be operated in a two-class configuration by Privatair. It is also
converting some summer-only-routes, such as Munich-Montreal, to year-round schedules.
Lufthansa will serve 191 destinations in 85 countries.