Lufthansa Group on Thursday reported third-quarter revenue of nearly €10.3 billion (US$10.9 billion), an 8 percent increase year over year in what it said was the strongest third quarter in the company’s history in terms of revenue. The company also reported a net profit of nearly $1.2 billion, up 47 percent from a year prior.
The passenger airlines segment revenue was up 14 percent year over year to more than €8.5 billion. Of that, passenger revenue was up 16 percent to €8.1 billion. Third-quarter capacity was up 13 percent versus a year prior and was at 88 percent of Q3 2019 levels. The group’s airlines carried nearly 38.2 million passengers during the quarter, up 14 percent year over year. The company credited its increased quarterly results to strong demand—particularly leisure in the premium segment—higher capacity and ongoing high yields.
The company, however, noted in its risk outlook that with economic development in Germany for the rest of 2023 and 2024 “likely to be weaker than forecast,” issues such as “persistently high inflation,” rising interest rates and volatile energy prices are weighing on private consumption and investing activities.
“The Lufthansa Group is therefore exposed to an increased risk that customers will reduce their travel budgets, especially in the business travel segment,” according to the company. Persistent high inflation also could result in higher cost increases than expected.
Still, Lufthansa Group expects demand to remain strong in the coming months as summer demand has extended into October and the holiday season already is strong. The company projects fourth-quarter capacity to be about 91 percent of 2019 levels. Q4 bookings currently are up by double-digit percentages year over year, according to the carrier.
So far for the first nine months of the year, Lufthansa reported revenue of nearly €12.1 billion, up 29 percent year over year. Swiss was up 28 percent to more than €4.4 billion. Austrian Airlines saw a gain of 32 percent from a year prior to €1.8 billion, and Brussels Airlines was up 33 percent to nearly €1.2 billion.
