Added belly space boosted capacity by 10 per cent and sales rose 11 per cent, delivering a 0.6 per cent load factor improvement to 59.3 per cent, but traffic revenue fell by 16 per cent to EUR757 million from EUR902 million in the same period last year.

Its logistics businesses Jettainer, time:matters, Heyworld, (half of) Aerologic and CB Customs broker saw capacity up seven per cent year-on-year, sales were up 10 per cent and the load factor rose to 63.3 per cent.

But yields fell in all of Lufthansa Cargo’s traffic areas and were down 25 per cent overall on the previous year.
Adjusted ebit meant a loss of EUR22 million.

Lufthansa Group in total saw a better EUR7.39 billion in revenues, up five per cent but a net loss of EUR734 million, 57 per cent more than EUR467 million a year earlier.

Carsten Spohr, chairman of the executive Board and ceo said the company was at a turning point, having reached long-term wage agreements "for the majority of employees" and "seeing demand that is significantly higher than last year" for the northern summer. 

"We are therefore continuing to expand our offering and are growing on long-haul routes in particular. Our planes remain well filled throughout.

“One thing is already clear: it will be another very strong summer,” he concluded.