Lufthansa flight to Riyadh diverted to Cairo for safety reasons, CEO says

Record ID: 2361731

  • Title: Lufthansa flight to Riyadh diverted to Cairo for safety reasons, CEO says
  • Date: 6th March 2026
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (MARCH 6, 2026) (AGENCY POOL) INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FATIH BIROL LISTENING TO QUESTION AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FATIH BIROL, SAYING:     "The current crisis in the Middle East in some quarters leads to questions about Russia, whether to go back to Russia or not. Of cou
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Gulf region Iran crisis air traffic hedging oil prices rescue flights
  • Location: FRANKFURT, GERMANY 
  • City: FRANKFURT, GERMANY 
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Europe,Economic Events
  • Reuters ID: LVA001152406032026RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A Lufthansa flight to Riyadh was diverted to Cairo for safety reasons, the airline's CEO Carsten Spohr said on Friday (March 6). 
    Spohr and the company’s CFO Till Streichert reported better-than-expected 2025 results as stricter financial management and fleet renewal helped the airline contain costs and boost profits, but the outlook remained clouded by the war in the Middle East. 
    The German group's shares rose as much as 4% in early trading, before retreating to stand up 0.5% at 1100 GMT. 
    Lufthansa said it had seen substantially higher demand on routes to and from Asia and Africa since the conflict began on Saturday, adding it would stick with its strategy of expanding long-haul services. Spohr told reporters that new flights to Asia would be launched in days. 
    While airlines face costs for rescheduling and rerouting services, the biggest impact for those outside the Middle East is likely to come from surging fuel costs. Brent crude oil futures have jumped 17.2% this week.  
    Spohr said Lufthansa was well hedged and shielded in the short term from oil price spikes. 
    (Production: Timm Reichert, Lena Toepler)
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