Airline posts heavy first quarter losses
Lufthansa Group blamed high fuel prices, air traffic taxes in Germany and Austria and the cost of emissions trading for its heavy losses in the first quarter of this year.
Revenue was up 5.6% to €6.6bn, mainly due to higher passenger traffic and higher fares, but the Group, which includes Lufthansa, Grmanwings, Swiss and Austrian Airlines, lost a total of €381m, a fall of €212m over last year.
Chairman and CEO Christoph Franz said: "Higher taxes, fees and charges put a massive strain on our quarterly result. It was well down on last year despite record revenue. We cannot wait until politicians also recognise the damage that one-sided taxes and charges do to aviation and to Europe’s reputation as a place to do business."
Lufthansa Passenger Airlines, including Germanwings, reported an operating loss of €384m. SWISS contributed an operating loss of €6m to this result and Austrian Airlines sustained an operating loss of €67m.
For the full year 2012, the Group is still expecting revenue growth compared with the previous year. The operating profit is predicted to be in the mid three-figure million euro range.
It said: "The prevailing economic uncertainty makes developments in demand difficult to forecast. The mood has lightened overall, however, and this, together with capacity discipline across the industry allows the airlines to manage yields and pricing actively."
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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