Lufthansa Group has confirmed it will reduce flight capacity further than previously planned.

The company – which operates Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings alongside the German flag-carrier – said last week it had expected to cut flights by a quarter.

However, due to the exceptional circumstances caused by the spread of Covid-19 and the resulting drastic decline in bookings, capacity is now set to be reduced by up to 50 per cent in the coming weeks.

Adjustments apply to all passenger airlines in the group.

Additionally, Lufthansa is considering taking its entire fleet of 14 Airbus A380 planes temporarily out of service in Frankfurt and Munich.

“These measures are designed to reduce the financial consequences following the decline in demand,” Lufthansa said in a statement.

“It complements the planned savings actions in the area of personnel, spanning material costs and project budgets, and other liquidity measures.

“In addition to an immediate hiring freeze, the Lufthansa Group has already offered its employees the use of voluntary individual personnel measures.

“These measures include the granting of unpaid leave and bringing forward annual leave.

“The company is in talks with its operating partners and trade unions in order to avoid dismissals - among other measures - by means of various part-time models, including probationary periods.”

Lufthansa said it was not yet possible to determine the financial burden that could be expected from current developments.

The group will publish key financial figures at its annual press conference on March 19th.