Lufthansa Group reported a loss of €265 million for the first half of the year despite revenue in the three months to June rising 7% year on year to €10 billion.
The group of airlines which includes Lufthansa and Swiss carried more than 60 million passengers in the six months to June, up 10% on last year, but confirmed plans for a “comprehensive” turnaround programme.
The losses in the period came in comparison to a €414 million profit in the same period in 2023, despite a 4% rise in traffic revenue to €14.3 billion and 6% rise to €17.4 billion in total revenue.
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Second quarter profits were €469 million, down from €881 million for April to June last year.
Lufthansa chairman and chief executive Carsten Spohr noted the group exceeded €10 billion in turnover in the second quarter of the year for the first time and said: “Global demand for air travel remains strong.”
However, he argued “the increase in available capacity, normalisation of air fares and average yields in all markets in the first half of the year” together with rises in costs meant “profit expectations had to be adjusted across the industry”.
Spohr reported: “Lufthansa, was particularly affected in the first half of the year because in addition to the effects of market developments, there were high strike costs, further delays in aircraft deliveries and resulting inefficiencies, as well as the structural problems of the airline.”
He said the significant delays in delivery of aircraft caused “upheavals in areas such as fleet management and through additional maintenance costs for the older aircraft in use”.
Lufthansa Airlines recorded a first-half loss of €427 million compared with a profit of €149 million the previous year and Spohr warned: “Achieving a break even full-year results is becoming increasingly challenging.”
He said: “We therefore want to accelerate the modernisation of Lufthansa Airlines with a turnaround programme.”
The programme will include optimising the airline’s network, increasing the productivity of crew and decommissioning the older types of long-haul aircraft by 2028.
The group reported global demand for air travel “remains very robust” with bookings to the end of October “more than 10% up on last year”.
Group capacity through July to September is set at 96% of the 2019 level.