Lufthansa Executive Board member Harry Hohmeister strongly criticizes the German government's plans to abolish free PCR tests for those returning from travel. The airline did not expect this step and the manager also assumes that this will have an impact on the booking situation, said Hohmeister in an interview with Der Spiegel.

“I am convinced that such tests are still the best way to contain the pandemic and to get an overview of the situation. This is also the best solution for the passengers. The current plan does not bring more security, but additional uncertainty. That is completely incomprehensible to me ”, the Lufthansa board member told Der Spiegel.

When asked how the withdrawal of the free PCR tests could affect Lufthansa, Harry Hohmeister replied that this “will of course lead to further declines in bookings”. Furthermore: “We also see the effect with travel warnings, which also regularly lead to a break in bookings. That is why we are no longer as optimistic about September and October as we were a short time ago. This issue worries us not only at Lufthansa itself. If we abolish the tests and send everyone directly into quarantine, we are threatened with a second lockdown, even though we have made a great effort to set up these test centers within the shortest possible time. ”He demands that the test capacities be expanded over the winter "Well over 100.000 tests per day". He does not consider the government's plan to quarantine returning travelers to be sensible.

Compared to the Spiegel Harry Hohmeister also describes the changed booking behavior of customers. For example, tickets “before Corona” were sold with a lead time of three to four months and now there are a maximum of four to six weeks “and currently even less”. This also has an impact on further planning: “This means that we have to take flights to the USA or Canada, but also to the east, from the program again. We are even more affected in Europe, for example in France and Spain. On some routes we use smaller planes or cancel individual flights. At the moment we have more 100-seaters in our range than larger Airbuses at some hubs. And maybe we have to delete even more links. For the first time, the possibility of testing gave people a certain degree of security when traveling, which is now threatening to disappear again. In the medium term, we need an EU-wide regulation so that these short-term travel warnings are superfluous, at least within Europe. "

The Lufthansa board member was particularly clear to the news magazine “Der Spiegel” when asked whether the aviation industry feels disadvantaged compared to road and rail. The background to this is that Germany tends to strictly control air travelers, while car and train drivers have numerous options to avoid quarantine or even controls. For example, it is sufficient to claim that you have vacationed in Austria and not in Croatia. Air travelers have it much more difficult.

Harry Hohmeister said to the mirror: “I cannot understand that at all. It is in everyone's interest that the controls are carried out across the board. It cannot be that only the air travelers are classified as potential threats and the others are not. And it's not just about cross-border traffic. There are also regions in Germany that have been severely affected. If I just take a look at my immediate neighborhood in Hesse, there are hotspots that are in the public eye. But these people are not tested just because they move within Germany. "

At Lufthansa, the effects of the corona crisis also mean that downsizing is “inevitable under the current circumstances”. Hohmeister further: "If the hoped-for proceeds cannot be achieved, we have no other choice." However, the manager rules out that another state rescue package will be applied for. They want "not to be fed through, but to be entrepreneurial."

Hohmeister to Der Spiegel: “And that's why the costs have to go down, including investments. In case of doubt, this means possibly also taking down fewer aircraft. We have to face reality. Part of it is that we will act very carefully and professionally with the nine billion we got from the federal government. We don't want to go into another financing round with the federal government in order to preserve structures that are no longer sustainable under the given circumstances. "