Lufthansa Group to slash capacity by 50% as coronavirus spreads

BERLIN (Reuters) – Lufthansa said on Friday that its family of airlines would slash capacity by 50% in the coming weeks due to the coronavirus epidemic, making deeper cuts than earlier announced that will affect “all traffic areas”.

“This measure is intended to reduce the financial consequences of the slump in demand,” Lufthansa said in a statement issued through the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

“It complements the planned savings measures in personnel, material costs and project budgets as well as other liquidity measures.”

(Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Michelle Martin)