Lufthansa earnings up but still lagging pre-pandemic levels

GERMANY’S Lufthansa said on Friday (Mar 3) it had returned to a “clearly positive result” in 2022 despite high cost inflation and fuel prices, boosted by a strong increase in demand for air travel following the loss-making years of the pandemic.

Passenger numbers had more than doubled in 2022 compared with 2021 and net revenue was up to 32.8 billion euros (S$46.8 billion), with Lufthansa mirroring a recovery that many airlines saw towards the second half of last year and expect to continue into 2023.

“Lufthansa is back,” said Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr in a statement. “In just one year, we have achieved an unprecedented financial turnaround ... Demand for air travel remains high in 2023,” the CEO added.

The company reported a full-year operating profit of 1.23 billion euros for 2022, compared with a loss of 2.3 billion euros the previous year.

Operating profit was 34 per cent lower than the pre-pandemic year of 2019 and group revenue was 10 per cent below that year at 32.77 billion euros. REUTERS