EXCLUSIVE-Lufthansa projects 6% long-haul flight growth in 2026 as pursues turnaround

By Joanna Plucinska and Ilona Wissenbach

FRANKFURT, Dec 18 (Reuters) - German airline group Lufthansa LHAG.DE is projecting 6% supply growth for its passenger airlines on its long-haul routes in 2026, said CEO Carsten Spohr, adding it expects the delivery of a new widebody plane every other week to help bolster growth.

Lufthansa is seeking to internationalize its business and build its intercontinental routes as part of a broader strategy to bring profit margin growth to 8%-10% between 2028 and 2030.

Spohr told Reuters that capacity growth will be more limited in shorter haul routes, where it is seeking efficiencies.

"We will now integrate even further in our hub system, which will allow us to leave growth on short-haul limited, and nevertheless expand on long haul, which we will do with 6% next year," Spohr said at Lufthansa's offices in Frankfurt.

Overall capacity growth is expected to be around 3.5%, Spohr said, slightly below an earlier 2026 projection of around 4%.

"We don't need to connect every single hub to every single short haul destination anymore," he added in the interview.

Spohr said Lufthansa would look to add more frequent flights on some of its core routes in 2026 and new routes could be launched in 2027 using extra capacity from plane deliveries.

Airlines including Lufthansa have struggled with delivery delays from plane suppliers Boeing BA.N and Airbus AIR.PA, meaning they have had to continue flying less efficient jets.

With the new supply growth targets, Lufthansa is set to achieve about 98% of its pre-COVID-19 supply capacity. Air France KLM AIRF.PA and IAG ICAG.L have already surpassed the levels they were at prior to the pandemic this year.

Lufthansa's slower progress had been partly due to it now offering fewer short-haul trips after reducing domestic flights in Germany due to higher taxes and fees.