Fast-growing Lufthansa surpasses 2016 passenger number by end-October

Lufthansa has already carried more passengers in the first 10 months of this year than it did for the whole of 2016, thanks to rapid growth at its Eurowings budget brand and the takeover of Brussels Airlines. Ryanair overtook Lufthansa Group as Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers last year, but Lufthansa is slightly ahead so far this year. Lufthansa last year carried 109.7m passengers. By the end of October this year, it had carried 111m passengers, it said Thursday in a monthly traffic update. In the first 10 months of 2017, Ryanair carried just over 110m passengers. Along with expansion thanks to Eurowings and Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa is also set to be a big beneficiary of the collapse of local rival Air Berlin. <br/>