Lufthansa Group loses €171 million in first half of 2010

The Lufthansa Group has posted an operating loss of €171 million for the first half of the year, €179 million less than during the same period of the previous year.

The severe winter, the strike by the pilots’ union, the airspace lockdown after the volcano eruption on Iceland and the continued slump in prices all took their toll and had negative effects during the first six months of the year, Lufthansa said.

However, Lufthansa posted an operating profit of €159 million for the second quarter of 2010, more than tripling the figure for the second quarter in 2009.

The recovery in demand, particularly in cargo and intercontinental traffic, and the efforts to reduce costs in all areas of the Group during the past months played decisive roles in recording this positive result in this period.

Lufthansa executive board member and CFO Stephan Gemkow said: “There is a noticeable recovery in first and business class bookings in the passenger business and the revenue from long-haul traffic.

“A good example of this is our A380 with the new first class, which has had an excellent load factor in all classes since entering scheduled service on the Frankfurt–Tokyo route. Nevertheless, despite our delight with the very good second quarter, we have not yet succeeded in matching the results of earlier years.”