The Lufthansa group of airlines dropped into the red in the first half of the year with losses of €204 million.
This compares to a net profit of €50 million in the same period last year.
The operating result was cut to €72 million from €235 million in the first six months of 2012, a period which was aided by the one-off impact of restructuring at Austrian Airlines and the settlement of pension obligations at former UK subsidiary BMI amounting to €325 million.
The German group of carriers – which also includes Swiss and Germanwings – also attributed expenses in connection with its ‘Score’ restructuring plans for depressing profits in the half year to June 30.
Lufthansa itself cut losses from €268 million to €91 million due to better capacity management.
The came as overall group revenue declined by a marginal 0.3% to €14.5 billion as capacity was cut by 5.1%.
Chief financial officer Simone Menne said: “The restructuring of the Lufthansa group is gaining speed.
“Implementation of the steps adopted in various ‘Score’ projects is going to plan and is enabling the Lufthansa group to take key decisions for the future.
“Without the one-off effects, the group’s operating profit would have been higher than in the first half of last year.”
Group revenue for the full year should be higher than 2012. The operating result is forecast to be higher than the previous year’s reported earnings of €524 million.
Implementation of the ‘Score’ measures should boost earnings sustainably, the group said.