Lufthansa posts US$1bn profit despite strikes

Lufthansa has posted a strong set of financial results, despite a series of strikes that impacted its operations in 2014.

The German airline group, which includes Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and SWISS, generated an operating profit of EUR954 million (US$1.01 billion) in 2014, 37% higher than the previous year. But the result could have been even better – Lufthansa said the pilot strikes reduced its operating result by EUR232m.

And the group’s chairman & CEO, Carsten Spohr, said there was potential for the company to improve even further in future.

“Our results for 2014 show us clearly where we currently stand,” said Spohr. “On the one hand, all the business segments of the Lufthansa Group are profitable and, with an operating profit of almost EUR1bn, we achieved our projection in a far-from-easy year.

“At the same time, though, with our high investments in modern aircraft and premium services, we simply have to further increase our operating profit. For this we need competitive structures; and that’s what we continue to consistently work on,” he added.

Lufthansa’s passenger airlines contributed EUR553m to the group’s operating result, up from EUR513m in 2013. SWISS generated EUR289m of this, while Lufthansa (including Germanwings) posted an operating profit of EUR252m. Austrian’s profits however, fell to just EUR10m.

Lufthansa’s total revenue for 2014 was almost unchanged, at EUR30.01bn.

The strong result reflects a broader upturn in the fortunes of Europe’s major airline groups. IAG, which includes British Airways and Iberia, recently announced a profit of EUR1.39bn for 2014, up 89% compared to 2013, while Air France-KLM reduced its full-year loss by almost 70%.