Status: 03/03/2023 08:21 a.m
After massive losses in the pandemic, the Lufthansa Group is back in the black. The recovery in tourism has also contributed to this. The numerous cancellations and delays are expensive for the airline.
After two years of losses during the Corona crisis, Lufthansa has again made a significant profit. Net profit was 791 million euros, after a loss of almost 2.2 billion the year before. However, analysts had expected an average of 875 million euros, as the group announced today.
The strong demand for flights from travelers and in air freight brought the airline 2022 with 32.8 billion euros in revenue, almost twice as high as in the previous year. “Lufthansa is back. In just one year we have achieved an unprecedented financial turnaround,” said Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr.
Passenger numbers doubled compared to 2021
In the past year, the airlines of the group transported a total of around 102 million passengers, more than twice as many as in the second Corona year 2021.
Nevertheless, the group’s passenger airlines remained operationally in the red with 300 million euros, as the profits in the second half of the year could not offset the losses from the first half of the year, which was shaped by the pandemic. High costs of 555 million euros to compensate customers for flight cancellations and delays in the summer, when there was a shortage of staff everywhere in aviation, also had an impact.
Profits also expected in the current year
In the current year, CEO Spohr wants to “significantly” drive up adjusted operating profit. At the freight subsidiary Lufthansa Cargo, the largest source of profit during the Corona crisis, sales and earnings are expected to decline after a special boom.
The capacity offered by the passenger airlines is to be increased to 85 to 90 percent – from 72 percent last year. “The demand for air travel will continue to be high in 2023,” said Spohr. Ticket prices are said to remain around a fifth above the pre-crisis level.