Lufthansa planning to can domestic flights

German airline powerhouse Lufthansa is poised to cancel up to 100 flights a week on domestic routes. 

Reduced passenger numbers, higher taxes and airport fees at German airports were reasons given by Lufthansa, which says many domestic routes are no longer profitable.

The decision follows a recent one by Ryanair to cut back on its flights in and out of German destinations. 

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said around 100 weekly domestic air links are now under review, news hub Travel Mole reported.

“Without a reduction in the burden on our home markets, further cuts will be unavoidable,” Spohr told Welt am Sonntag.

The decision comes as Lufthansa also plans to eliminate about 4,000 administrative positions as part of a wider cost-reduction effort.

“Routes such as Munich–Münster/Osnabrück or Munich–Dresden are under review,” Spohr said. “We operate these flights at a loss every single day.”

He noted that the cost of operating within Germany has nearly doubled since 2019 due to higher air traffic control fees, airport charges, and environmental taxes, making some services unsustainable.

Unlike international traffic, domestic air travel in Germany has failed to return to pre-pandemic levels. Industry groups attribute this to a decline in business travel. 

Many businesses have permanently shifted to videoconferencing while there is also major competition from high-speed rail services. 

If implemented, Lufthansa’s reduction could affect smaller regional airports such as Dresden, Münster/Osnabrück, Nuremberg, and Saarbrücken. 

These all rely heavily on connections to Munich and Frankfurt. 

It's official: tourists are avoiding the US

It is official. Travellers are voting with their wallets and avoiding the US.

The World Travel & Tourism Council is forecasting a significant decline in tourism spending by international travellers to the US this year, media hub Travel Mole reports.

The WTTC predicts a drop of up to $US 12.5 billion in travel revenue in 2025.

That could potentially put nearly 100,000 tourism jobs at risk, it says .

The WTTC study, in conjunction with tourism data partner Oxford Economics, estimates that tourism receipts will fall below $169 billion by the end of 2025.

That marks a decline of about 7% with numbers down by 22% on 2019 levels.

The WTTC says it is the only nation out of 184 global economies analysed that is expecting a decline in tourism revenue this year.

“Other countries are really rolling out the welcome mat, and it feels like the US is putting up a ‘we are closed’ sign at their doorway,” says WTTC president and Chief Executive Officer Julia Simpson.

“The US travel and tourism sector is the biggest sector globally compared to any other country, worth almost $2.6 trillion.”

Taking into consideration direct and indirect spending it represents about 9% of the US economy and employs 20 million people.

The WTTC says traveller sentiment has shifted due to the political rhetoric of the Trump Administration and stories of travellers being held at immigration for sometimes spurious reasons.

“What we are seeing now is a sentiment shift that’s really very sad,” Simpson said.

“Legislators need not confuse the tourism sector with issues around illegal immigration. A sophisticated system can balance both without turning the country into an island that no one wants to visit.”

The latest tourism data for March 2025 shows a decline in arrivals for all of the US’s major source markets.

Germany arrivals are down 28% and the UK 15% year-over-year.

There are also significant declines from South Korea, Spain and Ireland.

The WTTC now thinks US tourism won’t fully recover to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2030, even with the America 250 celebrations next year, the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics.

The British-based WTTC is a non-profit membership-based organisation

Trump slump: plummeting tourism figures have the US in a spin

The rapidly reduced number of visitors to the US has politicians and marketers in a spin.

Five Brand USA board members, including the board chair, were abruptly fired via email following orders from the White House, travel news portal Skift reported.

The five board members relieved of their Brand USA board duties were chair Elliott Ferguson, CEO of Destination DC; vice chair Lauren Bailey, CEO of Upward Projects; Kristen Esposito, principal of Esposito Global Partners; secretary Allen Orr, founder of Orr Immigration Law; and Tim Mapes, chief marketing and communications officer at Delta Air Lines.

The moves were seen as part of the Trump Administration's moves to put its stamp on the US tourism industry.

"Trump is turning over the board,” a source told Skift.

Ferguson was only five months into his one-year term.

A Brand USA spokesperson said: “Brand USA has no comment regarding your query. We refer you to the US Department of Commerce, which manages board appointments.”

There was no mention of the sackings on the Brand USA website.

Tourism to the US has slumped post-Covid and even more since Donald Trump became president for the second time.

Australians, famed for long stays, were identified as a target market for the US, but recent data from the US International Trade Administration shows that Australian visitor numbers plunged by 7% in March this year compared to the year before.

The drop in Australians travelling to the US comes amidst reports of travellers being denied entry, hassled by immigration officials and phones being seized to search for anti-Trump sentiments.

Other countries with a significant reduction in people travelling to the US included Canada, Colombia, Germany and the UK.