Lufthansa to cut free snacks for economy passengers

German airline Lufthansa , slashing costs as it struggles to cope with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, said on Tuesday it will stop offering free snacks to economy class passengers from next spring. The airline and its subsidiaries, Eurowings, Swiss, Austrian and Brussels Airlines, are cutting their schedules, fleet and staff, with air travel not expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels before 2025.

"Our current snack offer in economy class does not always meet the expectations of our guests," Christina Foerster, executive board member, said in a statement. Instead, Lufthansa and its subsidiaries will introduce a new range of food and drinks for sale on short and medium-haul flights, with Austrian airlines starting the new offer, followed by Swiss and Lufthansa.

Lufthansa and Swiss will also give passengers a complementary bottle of water. Passengers on budget airlines such as Ryanair and Lufthansa's Eurowings, have long had to pay for their own snacks and drinks.