Germany's national carrier Lufthansa posted an operating profit of 471m for the first nine months of 2005, compared to 220m for the same period in 2004.
The figure was boosted by 180m from the sale of its stake in the GDS Amadeus and 107m from the sale of its interest in Loyalty Partner.
Post tax profits for the nine month period rose to 416m and the group is predicting annual profits “significantly over 400m.”
In the nine-months to September, Lufthansa generated revenue of 13.3bn, a rise of 4.3% while traffic revenue rose by 6.2% to 10.2bn.
But the “drastic” rise in fuel costs added 5.3% to operating costs which rose to 13.8bn. During the period, the airline spent 1.8bn on fuel, an increase in costs of 42.6%.
Wolfgang Mayrhuber, chairman and ceo, said the airline was “holding course, even in turbulent times.”
He added: “Despite soaring oil prices, we have utilised our market potential and grown profitably. The strategy is right. We have turned opportunities into success.”
But he stressed that cost cutting was still a top priority because of the “difficult times facing the industry.
“Our Action Plan aimed at reducing costs and raising efficiency will be implemented. We are set on improving results by 1.2bn euros by year-end 2006 and we will realise that target.
“We have already saved 708m of the 780m targeted for this year. But even afterwards, the Group must continue seeking new ways of driving down costs.”
Eurostar adds extra coaches
Eurostar, the cross channel high speed train service, has added extra business only coaches on its trains.
Each will now have a minimum of two business only carriages while some peak time services will have up to five or six.
The coaches for business travellers who wish to work were introduced in September after the train operator's “largest ever research study” into passengers demands.
Paul Charles, Eurostar's director of communications, said the scheme had been a “huge success and we clearly have hit on a product that the customer wants.”