Lufthansa Regional is facing a tough cost-cutting regime this year, but partner management chief Jurgen Hild is confident of meeting the target.
Airlines operating under the Lufthansa Regional banner comprise Italian carrier Air Dolomiti, Germany’s Augsburg Airways, Lufthansa CityLine, Contact Air and Eurowings.
Speaking to Flight International’s sister on-line news service Air Transport Intelligence at the European Regions Airline Association’s conference in Copenhagen, Hild said: “It is not a matter or profit or not, it’s a matter of lowering their costs.
“The overall cost budget for next year is a very challenging one. However, we should be able to meet that target. The cost budget was lowered tremendously and the efforts needed by our partners are tremendous. We need to go down with our costs, we are really well on our way.”
Hild declined to quantify the exact target, but said the regional carriers are up against no-frills operators with much lower costs per seat.
“Any regional airline cannot win with that kind of competition. With no-frills airlines expanding in Europe, it is a challenge,” he said.
Source: Flight International
