The German flag carrier Lufthansa has embarked upon large-scale restructuring in the entire group in response to the coronavirus pandemic that the airline group expects to leave deep scars on the global aviation industry.

It will take months until the global travel restrictions are completely lifted and years until the worldwide demand for air travel returns to pre-crisis levels, the airline says and hence has taken extensive measures to reduce the capacity of flight operations and administration long term.

Lufthansa will permanently decommission 18 aircraft, including Airbus A380s, A340-600s as well as Boeing 747-400s, used for long-haul flights. In addition, it will withdraw 11 A320s from short-haul operations. With this decision, Lufthansa will be reducing capacity at its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. The group’s other carriers like Cityline, Eurowings, Germanwings, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines will also face curtailment of operations or may even stop flying altogether. Lufthansa Group members have already terminated almost all wet-lease agreements with other airlines.

India is one of the biggest markets for Lufthansa and though the impact of the restructuring on its operations to India is not yet known, flights are bound to be curtailed as the carrier currently operates 56 flights a week to India, serving New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. With Europe under serious pandemic attack and being the airline’s principal hub, the operations to India are expected to take a severe hit, at least in the mid-term.