Lufthansa Bookings Surge With Carrier Shifting Capacity to Asia

Deutsche Lufthansa AG is seeing a significant increase in bookings for March departures as the war in the Middle East disrupts operations for Gulf-based carriers, Chief Financial Officer Till Streichert said.

As many as 700 aircraft are sidelined or flying at reduced capacity because of the conflict, redirecting demand to carriers still running near-normal operations, he said. In the first two weeks after the Feb. 28 attack on Iran, Lufthansa bookings increased about 20% for this month, with an even higher jump on Asia-Pacific routes.