The earthquake and tsunami in Japan and political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa have meant a loss for the Lufthansa Group during the first quarter of 2011.
A rise in oil prices and the “burdens brought about by the severe winter” have also been blamed by Lufthansa.
The airline group, which includes carriers such as Lufthansa, Bmi and Swiss, reported an operating loss of €227 million for the first three months of 2011.
The figure represents a 31.2% improvement on 2010, however, when the figure for the same three months stood at -€330 million. The revenue over the period increased by 11.8%, to 6.4 billion.
All members of the airline group recorded a loss, except Swiss, which reported an operating profit of €17 million.
Lufthansa Passenger Airlines saw a loss of €234 million, Austrian Airlines a loss of €64 million, Bmi a loss of €63 million, and Germanwings a loss of €44 million.
Despite the negative results, the Lufthansa Group expects to see a year-on-year increase in revenue for 2011.
The airline group warned, however, that “the uncertainty surrounding the further developments in Japan and North Africa, as well as their implications with regard to the oil price” don’t allow for a “quantification” of the full-year results.
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