Lufthansa reported the “highest revenue and profit ever achieved in one summer” as the German airline said that holiday travellers have kept spending on first-class tickets despite spiralling prices. The Frankfurt-based group on Thursday reported q3 adjusted operating profits of E1.5b, up 31% from a year before, on an 8% increase in sales to E10.3b, pushing its shares up 7%. Carsten Spohr, the carrier’s CE, said that even with the “challenging” geopolitical situation, the company’s “booking outlook gives us reason to be positive — not only for a very good group result this year, but also beyond”. Demand for both long and short-haul flights had remained strong among leisure travellers well into October, Lufthansa said, adding that the trend towards more bookings in premium classes continued. “The very good summer demand has extended into October,” it added. European carriers — many of which were on the brink of collapse during the pandemic lockdowns — have benefited strongly from pent-up demand for travelling. IAG and Air France-KLM have also reported record sales over the summer. Leading airlines, including Lufthansa, this year rushed to invest in their first-class cabins and lounges as post-pandemic luxury travel demand jumped — a trend that has coincided with significantly higher ticket prices for flights across the board. The group confirmed its full-year guidance of adjusted operating profit of more than E2.6b. Despite buoyant travel demand, the rise in the price of oil and inflation as well as concerns over geopolitical uncertainty have weighed on airline shares over the past few months. Alexander Irving, analyst at Bernstein, questioned how long the booming demand for premium travel among holiday makers would last with inflation and high interest rates dampening consumer spending. “To my mind the question is not where we are now — possibly with still some pent-up demand — but where we are going,” he said. Is that going to continue once we’ve eaten through any remaining excess savings?”<br/>
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Lufthansa Group expects to ground 20 aircraft each day during 2024 because of continuing issues with Pratt & Whitney geared-turbofan (GTF) engines, but chief executive Carsten Spohr believes the mitigation measures it has in place mean capacity plans will not be impacted. P&W parent RTX disclosed earlier this year that more than 1,000 PW1100G engines – an option on Airbus A320neo-family jets – might have defective high-pressure compressor and turbine disks caused by a manufacturing issue. Spohr said that 146 engines are impacted within the group’s fleet. “We currently expect on average 20 aircraft from the Airbus A320 family will have to remain on the ground daily in 2024 due to the necessary maintenance work,” he says. "This corresponds to less than one-third of Lufthansa Group’s Airbus A320neo fleet and it’s less than 5% of our overall Airbus A320 fleet, which comprises more than 420 aircraft,” he says. In addition to the PW1100G-powered A320neos, the group also operates examples equipped with CFM International Leap-1A engines. ”It helps that we decided to also use CFM Leap engines on our A320 fleet and not put all our eggs in one basket,” Spohr says. Despite the impact on its fleet, he adds: "Thanks to the counter-measures we are currently working on, such as the extended use of existing A320-family aircraft, wet-lease agreements, and the procurement of additional spare engines, the additional maintenance efforts will not impact our capacity outlook for 2024.” Lufthansa Group expects its capacity to reach 95% of 2019 levels next year. Spohr also highlights the relative advantage the carrier has from having its own maintenance operation, Lufthansa Technik, in helping cop with the GTF issue. "With Lufthansa Technik, the Lufthansa Group benefits from direct access to the scarce and extremely in-demand MRO capacity, a real competitive advantage at times like this,” says Spohr.<br/>
Lufthansa wants to order 40 small short-haul planes, with Airbus’ A220 and Embraer planes under consideration, Chief Executive Carsten Spohr said on Thursday. He added that an order for 40 bigger single aisle planes was also in the works and the company was looking at Airbus’ A320 and Boeing’s 737 MAX. <br/>
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr now expects talks with the European Commission on the airline’s acquisition of a minority stake in Italian carrier ITA to wrap up in early in 2024 instead of at the end of this year, he told analysts on a call on Thursday<br/>
Turkish Airlines’ profits climbed by around one quarter for the three months ended 30 September as improving passenger revenues outweighed a drop in cargo turnover during the period. The Star Alliance carrier’s total revenues increased 4%, to $6.3b, in Q3. That was driven by a nearly 9% rise in passenger revenues to $5.5b, carrying 25.2m passengers in the quarter, almost one-tenth more than the same period last year. Cargo revenues, which were a major contributor to the airline’s strong performance during the pandemic, slipped 30% in Q3, to $618m, against the backdrop of a weaker market for air freight. The improved revenue helped the Turkish carrier lift operating profit 10% to $1.6b, EBIT by 25% to $1.9b, and net profit by 27% to $1.9b for the period. It continues the strong run of profitability Turkish Airlines has enjoyed since the pandemic and takes operating profit to $2.4b and net profit to almost $2.8b over the first nine months of the year.<br/>
Egypt’s national flag carrier, Egypt Air, officially launched its first direct flight connecting Cairo and Jakarta on Tuesday, October 31. Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno attended the inaugural flight ceremony at Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, expressing his hope that the direct flights would encourage foreign tourists from Africa and the Middle East to visit Indonesia. “After 7 years, as the last flight [of Cairo-Jakarta] was in 2016, Egypt Air is flying again on the Cairo-Jakarta-Cairo route, with a frequency of once or twice a week,” the minister said Thursday. Back in 2016, Egypt Air served the Cairo-Jakarta route with a transit in Bangkok. Sandiaga hoped that the international flight would improve the quality of facilities and services in the tourism and creative economy sectors. “We hope that Egypt Air can fly daily, not only to transport foreign tourists but also to export products. The creative economy sector, such as spices and coffee, are export commodities to Egypt,” he added. Egypt Air is scheduled to fly twice a week with an estimated flight time of 10 hours using the Dreamliner 787-900 aircraft, which can accommodate 309 passengers per flight. Flights from Jakarta to Cairo will be available every Wednesday and Friday, while flights from Cairo to Jakarta will be available every Tuesday and Thursday.<br/>
South Korea's Asiana Airlines said on Thursday its board had approved the sale of the company's cargo business - an important step towards allaying EU competition concerns about a proposed takeover by Korean Air Lines. Korean Air, the country's biggest carrier, said in a statement following the decision that it had submitted a package of remedies to the European Commission - remedies that also include it divesting routes to some European Union cities. Analysts said, however, that Asiana's greenlighting of the cargo unit sale did not necessarily ensure smooth sailing ahead for the deal. They noted the desired valuation for the air cargo unit of some 700b won ($520m) including debt, as reported by local media, was probably too high. That could become a new stumbling block for the sale and hence regulatory approval. "The price seems to be way too expensive, and there aren't that many players at home with the means to spend that much money on Asiana's debt-ridden cargo unit ... there are lingering uncertainties," said Bae Se-ho, an analyst at Hi Investment & Securities. And even if the deal gets the nod from the European Union, it still needs approval from the United States and Japan, analysts also noted. Korean Air said in a statement that while it was continuing with "its efforts to secure the approval from the European Commission, the airline will also communicate closely with the remaining regulatory bodies to finalize the approval process as quickly as possible."<br/>