Germanwings

Lufthansa earnings fall 27% as outlook deteriorates further

Germany’s Lufthansa Group, Europe’s largest airline group by revenue, reported a 27% drop in third quarter (three months to 30-Sep-2011) operating profit as “the macroeconomic environment darkened significantly” in the period. The group warned the economic gloom is showing no signs of abating and due to an ugly forward bookings profile, Lufthansa is again slashing future capacity plans.

The airline breathed a sigh of relief as the third quarter result pushes the airline back firmly into the black in the YTD period. Although the result “does not have us jumping for joy,” CEO Christoph Franz said, Lufthansa is profitable while many “competitors are struggling to make figures that are not in the red”.

Germanwings to improve on 2010 result in 2011 despite impact of air traffic tax and high fuel costs

Lufthansa Group stated Germanwings is expected to report an improved operating result in 2011, despite the air traffic tax and the high oil price continuing to present challenges for Germanwings throughout the 2011 financial year. The company did not provide further details about its outlook, other to say that the full year result will be an improvement on last year’s operating result of an EUR11 million loss. However, given the increasing losses in the first half of the year, the carrier will still fall short of the record EUR39 million operating profit achieved in 2009.

Lufthansa enjoys solid 2Q but first half loss widens

Lufthansa posted strong second quarter result, reporting a EUR301 million net profit for the period, a 55% year-on-year increase. The EUR203 million operating profit in 2Q was enough to push the group into the black at the operating level for the first half, with Lufthansa posing a EUR3 million operating for the six-month period. Its net loss for the half, however, doubled to EUR206 million.

European low-cost carrier growth moderates in Mar-2011

None of Europe’s largest LCCs reported passenger growth in excess of 15% in Mar-2011, marking a slowing in growth in 2011 among Europe’s largest LCCs. A key trend has been that while these European LCCs are adding new routes and establishing new bases, there have also been a number of route and base reductions, as the region’s largest LCCs, including Ryanair and easyJet, increase focus on profitable growth.