Lufthansa limits catering on some flights due to staff shortages

BERLIN (Reuters) – German flag carrier Lufthansa said on Friday it had to reduce the buy-on-board meal offer for some short- and medium-haul routes departing from Frankfurt as its catering contractor Gate Gourmet struggles with staff shortages.

“This means our (catering) offer is currently not available in economy class on these Lufthansa flights to and from Frankfurt. The offer in business class and on long-haul flights is not affected,” a Lufthansa spokesperson said in a statement.

A spokesperson at Gate Gourmet’s owner GateGroup said the issues are limited to a small number of flights departing from the Frankfurt airport, which is primarily a Lufthansa hub, and the main reason is the shortage of drivers in Germany.

To address the issue, the caterer has introduced measures such as a 250-euro bonus for employees who did not take more than one sick day in April.

GateGroup serves more than 300 customers in over 60 countries but has not got any other complaints, the spokesperson said, adding the caterer kept its on-time performance in Frankfurt at 99% over the busy Easter period.

Both companies said they were in close contact and working to improve the situation.

(Reporting by Zuzanna Szymanska; Editing by Richard Chang)