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Lufthansa is on course for a record year, even as it has fewer flights than originally planned this year, CEO Carsten Spohr told Focus news magazine on Friday. "The average profit per passenger this year is E15," he said, adding that the airline is now growing significantly again after recovering from the pandemic. The company has scheduled thousands fewer flights than originally planned this year due to staff and aircraft shortages, said Spohr, who added that Lufthansa is hiring 1,200 people every month and has ordered 200 new aircraft. Lufthansa is scheduled to release its results on Aug. 3.<br/>

The flag carrier of Croatia has released its financial results for the first half of 2023. Croatia Airlines has announced a net profit of E1.69m. The airline has significantly improved from the same period last year. Last year, the airline posted a net loss of E21.8m. Additionally, the airline improved from its pre-pandemic results that were posted in 2019. In the first half of 2019, the airline recorded a net loss of E11.9m. Interestingly enough, the major improvements that allowed the company to profit over the first half of the year were accomplished in the second quarter of 2023. The airline recorded a net loss in the first quarter but was able to improve enough in the second quarter to record a net profit of E1.69m. Throughout the first half of 2023, which is January to June, the airline increased its revenue by 52% when compared to the first half of 2022. This increase was driven by an 83% increase in income from passenger transport. Additionally, the airline's expenditure grew by 14% compared to 2022. This was mostly due to an increased number of operated flights. Croatia Airlines released a statement following the financial results of the first half of this year. The airline stated, "The first half of 2023 was characterized by strong growth in demand for air travel following the coronavirus pandemic. Accordingly, Croatia Airlines has increased frequencies and introduced new routes, which has resulted in an increased number of flights. Positive trends on the market, strong growth in income, as well as the stabilization of the price of fuel have all contributed to the significantly improved financial results during the first half of 2023."<br/>

Ethiopian Airlines successfully weathered the Covid pandemic by shifting its strategy, but Africa's only profitable carrier still faces "real challenges" in sourcing parts and staying competitive at a time of inflation, its CEO told AFP. The 2022-2023 financial year ending June 30 "was a very successful year," Mesfin Tasew said in an interview in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. "We carried 13.7m passengers, which is a 57% growth compared to the previous year and 10 percent higher than pre-Covid. We also carried 740,000 tonnes of cargo, which is nearly double pre-Covid," he said. The state-owned company generated $6.1b in revenue, up 20% compared to the previous year and nearly 50% more than pre-Covid earnings. The airline turned to freight when passenger traffic fell, including converting some of its passenger aircraft to transport cargo. "The figures indicate that we have fully recovered from the impacts of Covid," said Mesfin, who was appointed to the job in March 2022. But, he said, the pandemic's effects can still be felt in the form of "high inflation... which translates into high operating costs for us (and) high fuel price." The disruption to the global supply chain caused by Covid-19 has also led to a shortage of spare parts required for repairs. "Sometimes we have difficulty flying all airplanes, we have to ground some of the aircrafts until we get the parts", he said. He added that he expects the problem to be resolved within three years, "but today it is a real challenge." As the industry recovers from coronavirus and more planes take to the skies, potential overcapacity may lead to a fall in airfares, he said. The company "will have to re-evaluate its cost structure and... work very hard on our cost-saving initiative to stay still competitive," he said. Ethiopian Airlines is also facing other challenges, including a lawsuit filed by a rights group that claims the carrier discriminated against travellers from the war-scarred region of Tigray. The airline resumed air links between the capital Addis Ababa and Tigray after a peace deal was signed in November 2022 ending two years of conflict between the federal government and Tigrayan rebels. Mesfin declined to answer any questions related to the case. The airline has previously denied claims that it had transported soldiers and weapons to Tigray during the war.<br/>

ANA Holdings rebounded to profitability in its first-quarter earnings, helped by a jump in revenues led by strong passenger travel demand across international, domestic and low-cost networks. For the three months to 30 June, the parent company of All Nippon Airways (ANA) was Y43.7b ($313m) in the black at the operating level, reversing the Y1.3b loss in the year-ago period. On a segment basis, the aviation business – comprising mainline operator ANA, low-cost unit Peach and cargo carrier ANA Cargo – also swung to a Y42.3b operating profit. This compares to a Y1.9b loss last year. Group revenue grew nearly 32% year on year to Y461b, with the aviation unit reporting a 33% jump. ANA Holdings notes that its other business units, including travel services and airline-related ancillary business - also saw respectable increases in earnings during the quarter. “Despite concerns about geopolitical risks such as the situation in Ukraine, the airline business continues to see a recovery in passenger demand due to the further relaxation of travel restrictions and disease control measures in countries around the world,” the group states. Within the airline business, it was ANA’s international passenger service that saw the largest jump in revenue - more than doubling year on year - after Japan eased its pandemic travel restrictions late-2022. ANA carried more than 1.6m international passengers during the quarter, more than twice the number reported a year ago, with capacity and traffic similarly doubling year on year. Apart from an influx of travellers coming to Japan with restrictions eased, ANA says the uptick can also be attributed to “proactive initiatives to capture business demand for departures from Japan and demand for transit connections between North America and China”. <br/>

Air New Zealand is assessing the impact of a fresh issue with Pratt & Whitney engines, which overseas airline executives are concerned could ground planes and cut flight capacity. RTX Corp, the parent company of the US engine maker, is recalling 1200 of more than 3000 engines built for the twin-engined Airbus A320neo between 2015 and 2021. The engines must be removed and checked for microscopic cracks. The “rare condition” contaminated the powder metal used to make “certain engine parts”, and could cause cracks to form on critical engine parts, RTX said. Air New Zealand chief operational and safety officer David Morgan said the airline was working with Pratt & Whitney to understand the impact on its A320neo aircraft. “At this stage we understand there is limited exposure for our engines, which would not impact our schedule,” Morgan said. “This is not unique to Air New Zealand and does not represent a safety issue.” Air NZ’s A320neo aircraft are used on short-haul routes to Australia, throughout the Pacific and domestically. Neo stands for new engine option, and is the newer, more fuel-efficient jet the airline has been receiving in recent years. Globally, 200 engines must be inspected by mid-September, and the remainder within the next nine to 12 months. The issue comes at a time when many airlines are struggling with staff and plane shortages, making it harder to add more flights.<br/>