Lufthansa today (July 29) posted a €171m operating loss for the first half of 2010.
But the Group which includes the German national carrier said the loss was better than the €350m operating loss for the same period in 2009.
The company blamed the severe winter, its pilots' strike, the disruption caused by the volcanic ash cloud and the continued slump in prices as negatives impacts on its results for the first half of the year.
But it said a turn around in demand for intercontinental flights and cargo and cost cutting initiatives had led to a Q2 operating profit of € 159m, more than three times the figure for the same period in 2009.
Stephen Gemko, Lufthansa Group's cfo, said there had been a "noticeable recovery in first and business class bookings in the passenger business and the revenue from long-haul traffic."
He cited the new A380 service from Frankfurt to Tokyo as having an "excellent load factor" in all classes.
Gemko said the company's cost cutting programme would continue "particularly in the face of the current slump in prices and altered demand in short-haul traffic".
Lufthansa said its Passenger Airline Group posted a Q2 operating profit but contributed €203m to the H1 loss.
It said Austrian Airlines contributed a loss of €70m to the operating result of the Passenger Airline Group; bmi and Germanwings respective losses of €93m and €39m while SWISS made a positive contribution of €54m.
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