Lufthansa has announced that it carried 6.7 percent fewer passengers in January than in the same month in 2008. Its cargo traffic was down 24.3 percent, providing further evidence of the growing economic crisis. Passenger load factor narrowed only slightly, however, by 2.2 percentage points to 74.3 percent. Lufthansa was troubled by cabin crew strikes during January in Europe, which is where it saw its biggest slump in demand. But Lufthansa is one of very few major airlines that have raised forecasts for full-year operating profit in 2008, in its case from EUR1.1 billion to EUR 1.3 billion, resulting from a fourth quarter that was stronger than expected.

 

Stand By News, 2009-02-13