Lufthansa has become the latest European airline to announce a scaling back of growth plans in response to worldwide economic uncertainty, anxiety over terrorism and air traffic disruption. On Tuesday, the German group, which owns a series of European airlines including Swiss and Austrian Airlines, as well as its flagship Lufthansa brand, said it was scaling back the expansion of its winter timetable from 6 to 5.4%. It disclosed the change as it reported H1 adjusted earnings before interest and tax — a measure that excludes some accounting charges — had risen 13% to E529m, on revenues that were down 2.1% to E15b. After news of the revised growth plan, Lufthansa shares were down 2.4% in lunchtime trading in Frankfurt, at E10.41. They have now fallen by more than E1 since a profit warning on July 20, when the company sharply downgraded its forecast for full-year profits. Carsten Spohr, Lufthansa’s CE, warned that the industry had to prepare for a “difficult second half-year”. “The terrorist attacks in Europe and also the increasing political and economic uncertainties are having a tangible impact on passenger volumes,” he said. “The forward bookings, in particular for our long-haul services to Europe, have declined significantly. We expect the high pricing pressure to continue.” Under Lufthansa’s revised growth plans, it will operate one fewer long-haul aircraft and six fewer short-haul aircraft over the winter than it had previously intended. In the first half of the year, the airline’s improved performance was largely due to a 42% jump in earnings before interest and tax at the core Passenger Airline Group, to to E393m. However, sales at the division declined 2.9% to E11.3b as a result of a 6.6% decline in revenue per available seat kilometre, to 7.6 cents.<br/>
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Lufthansa Tuesday tried to reassure investors that it still expected to pay a dividend for 2016, two weeks after warning that terrorist attacks had led to a drop in demand that prompted the airline to cut its full-year outlook. “Based on current calculations, we’re capable of paying a dividend,” CFO Simone Menne said. “The technical conditions are met.” The airline’s net profit for the quarter ended June 30 fell to E437m from E529m a year earlier. Despite higher passenger volumes, traffic revenue fell 5.4% due to strong pricing pressure in both the airline and cargo businesses. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, a key earnings figure, fell to E582m from E635m. Lufthansa said its passenger airline unit anticipated “very weak trends” in Q3 in particular. Unit revenues excluding currency effects are expected to fall between 8% and 9% in H2. Lufthansa didn’t provide detailed 2016 guidance but Menne said analyst expectations for an adjusted EBIT of around E1.5b were “certainly not badly calculated.”<br/>
A dog is on its way to Asia after police rescued it from a swamp following its escape from New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport. The collie named Dart got away from United Airlines' pet transport service on Monday morning. It threaded through traffic and several parking lots before ending up stuck in the mud in a swamp. Airport police used a rowboat and snare to reach the dog. Dart was not injured during the 45-minute rescue. The dog was cleaned up and reunited with his owner to make its flight.<br/>