FRANKFURT (AFP) – German airline group Lufthansa yesterday reported an eight-per cent drop in profits in July to September compared with the same period last year, blaming increased operating and staff costs.
The group, whose brands also include Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, SWISS and Eurowings, posted a net profit of EUR1.1 billion (USD1.2 billion) for the third quarter.
Lufthansa said it remained committed to its “turnaround” cost-cutting programme that it hopes will generate EUR1.5 billion in savings by 2026. The subdued results contrast with a 47-per cent jump in profits reported by Lufthansa in the same quarter in 2023 as it rebounded from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Increased sales in the third quarter however led to revenues of EUR10.7 billion, the “strongest revenue quarter in the company’s history”, Lufthansa said in a statement.
Some 40 million passengers travelled with the airline in July to September, an increase of six per cent compared with 2023.
However, the group said high operating costs as well as “increased location costs, higher staff costs and expenses for compensation payments following flight irregularities” had weighed on its bottom line.
Lufthansa ground staff won a 12.5-per cent pay rise at the end of March after a series of strikes.
