Lufthansa reports record sales as premium travel keeps on giving

Europe’s biggest airline group said that with passenger demand above levels seen last year, it plans to increase capacity in the fourth quarter and expects to report a positive operating result for the final three months of 2024. 

Revenue for the three months through September hit an unprecedented €10.7 billion ($11.6 billion).

The group “expects demand for air travel to remain strong in the remaining months of the year,” according to a statement Tuesday. “The load factors booked for November and December are well above the levels observed at the same time last year” and bookings remain particularly high in business and first class.

“We see the pricing beat and fourth-quarter booking trends as positive,” Citigroup Inc. analysts said, noting that ticket prices also declined by a smaller amount than they expected.

For the full year, Lufthansa stuck to its previous expectations, saying adjusted operating profit should be in the range of €1.4 billion to €1.8 billion, down from previous guidance of about €2.2 billion.

The airline group last revised its full-year outlook in July, saying at the time that breaking even at its namesake German unit and flagship carrier — Lufthansa — will be “increasingly challenging.”

The carrier has struggled with high personnel costs, aircraft delays and growing competition from the Middle East and Asia. Its travails are the chief reason group earnings before interest and taxes dropped to €1.3 billion from €1.5 billion a year ago, the company said. 

In response to the business slowdown, including a lackluster rebound of corporate travel since the pandemic, Lufthansa has initiated a savings plan that includes phasing out about 50 older long-haul aircraft in the latter part of the decade.

The carrier is also eliminating its direct daily flight from Frankfurt to Beijing because the fuel-guzzling, older aircraft on that service make that route unprofitable amid Russian airspace closures.

The company’s turnaround plan “envisages shifting more short-haul traffic to more cost-efficient flight operations,” Lufthansa said Tuesday. “By 2026, the measures will have a gross earnings before interest and tax effect of around €1.5 billion.”

Another highlight came from Lufthansa Technik, the part of the business responsible for maintenance and overhaul of planes, and component and engine services, among other things.

It continued to benefit from the high demand for air travel and the associated increase in demand from airlines worldwide for maintenance and repair services. Lufthansa Technik reported  adjusted EBIT of €167 million in the third quarter, up from €168 million the year prior.

Airfreight was also strong, due in part to e-commerce in Asia, with Lufthansa Cargo delivering an operating profit of €38 million up from just €1 million in the third quarter of 2023.

As a group, the airlines, which also include Eurowings, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, flew more than 40 million people in the third quarter, up 6% year-on-year. Available capacity is currently running at about 94% and for the full year, Lufthansa expects capacity to come in at around 91% compared to pre-Covid levels.