Lufthansa chief warns Iran war may weaken Gulf airline hubs

The German airline Lufthansa expects the dominance of Gulf carriers on routes to Asia to weaken as a result of the war with Iran. The company’s chief executive, Carsten Spohr, made the remark in an interview with Manager Magazin.

According to him, the main hubs of airlines such as Emirates and Qatar Airways are located in a region now exposed to new security risks. ‘What impact this will have on the future of global air travel remains to be seen,’ he said.

Spohr added that the conflict also calls into question discussions about expanding flight rights for Gulf carriers at German airports. In his view, Europe’s growing dependence on non-European hubs would weaken its transport sovereignty.

‘It is a problem if we are increasingly unable to connect with growing Asian markets via our own routes and are reliant on hubs outside Europe,’ he noted.

On routes to North America, Lufthansa is seeing the opposite trend. Weaker interest among Europeans in travelling to the US is offset by growing demand from Americans. The airline expects to carry more American than European passengers on transatlantic flights this summer.

(Reuters, EST)