Lufthansa warns of subdued demand for another four years
Lufthansa has warned that travel demand is unlikely to rebound to pre-Covid levels until 2024 after reporting a dire financial performance.
The airline said the collapse in demand saw passenger numbers fall 96% between April and June, leading to an 80% decline in second-quarter revenue to 1.9 billion euros.
The second quarter loss of 1.7 million euros is understood to have been its worst ever quarterly performance.
"We are experiencing a caesura (pause) in global air traffic," Chief Executive Carsten Spohr said. "We do not expect demand to return to pre-crisis levels before 2024. Especially for long-haul routes there will be no quick recovery."
Lufthansa said that while it was able to ‘counteract the effects of the coronavirus pandemic’ during the first half of the year with strict cost management and revenues from Lufthansa Technik and its cargo division, it will ‘not be spared a far-reaching restructuring of the business.
It is aiming to reduce 22,000 full time jobs.
"We are convinced that the entire aviation industry must adapt to a new normal," Spohr said. "The pandemic offers our industry a unique opportunity to recalibrate: to question the status quo and, instead of striving for ‘growth at any price’, to create value in a sustainable and responsible way."
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