Traffic revenue down by 19.3%
Lufthansa today (July 30) posted a profit of €8m for the first six months of 2009, €669m less than for the same period last year.
It said that from January to June, total revenue fell by 15.2% from €12bn to €10.2bn compared to the same six month in 2008.
Traffic revenue slumped by 19.3% to €7.8bn while its operating income dropped by 10.1% to €11.6bn.
Its operating profit for the six months fell to €20m compared with €743m for the same period in2008.
The airline, which spoke of a "crisis in the industry", blamed weak demand and the "altered travel behaviour of the passengers."
It added: "Business travellers in particular, have increasingly been buying tickets in the cheaper booking classes, leading to a significant slide in average yields during the first half of the year."
Lufthansa said that during the six months, its operating expenses fell by 4.8% to €11.6bn, mainly through a drop of €897m in fuel costs.
The airline is now set to implement its Climb 2011 programme, announced earlier this month, to cut €1bn costs from its operation, including up to20% of its workforce.
Stephan Gemkow, Lufthansa's chief financial officer, said: "Lufthansa has made provisions and is holding its course against the competition in highly challenging conditions.
"This is a strong performance by all of the employees in the group; however, we still cannot be satisfied with this result."
Wolfgang Mayrhuber, chairman and ceo of the Lufthansa group, said: "The figures speak for themselves. Crises ruthlessly reveal the weak points and we shall act.
"It is only sustainable structures that will allow our company to match its past successes and succeed against the competition in the long-term."
Lufthansa said the aim of Climb 2011 was the "sustainable improvement" of the airline's result by the end of 2011.
Mr Gemkow said details of the plan would be announced and implemented in the "upcoming weeks".
www.lufthansa.com