Eurowings, Lufthansa Group’s low-cost carrier, has confirmed that it will suspend flights between Cologne and Cape Town indefinitely from October.

Tourism Update understands that the underlying problem is that in terms of the bilateral aviation agreement between Germany and South Africa, the German carriers have reached the limit of flights they can operate. With only one flight a week the German carrier needed to increase the number of flights for the route to become more efficient.

“This decision is directed by the strategic requirement to address gaps within primary seasonal commercially important destinations for the airline over the winter schedule period,” Eurowings said.

Asked if and when the flights would be reinstated, André Schulz, General Manager of Lufthansa Group Southern Africa, commented: “At this point, the flight schedule for 2019 has not been finalised, and therefore we are not able to provide further information until the strategic planning has been concluded.”

The airline launched flights between Cologne and Cape Town in November last year, operating one flight a week on the route. The launch was well received by the industry, with expectations that the flights would make travel to Europe more affordable for South Africans.