Lufthansa bounced back with a recovery in the second half of 2024 thanks to strong demand and lower fuel costs that lifted its shares on Thursday following a difficult year impacted by costly strikes and industry-wide delivery delays. Despite falling by over a third on the previous year, operating profit of E1.6b in 2024 was still slightly above forecasts, driven by a stronger-than-expected fourth quarter which Deutsche Bank analysts said was "a decent end to the year". Shares in the German group, which has promised to cut costs at its loss-making core brand Lufthansa Airlines in the coming years, were trading 6.8% higher at around 0925 GMT. European airlines, including Lufthansa rival Air France-KLM, struggled last year as inflation and maintenance of ageing fleets drove costs higher despite sustained strong demand, with shares dropping for most of the main carriers on the continent. "Looking back, 2024 was a year of two halves for the Lufthansa Group. In the first six months, we still had to cope with a significant decline in operating profit," CE Carsten Spohr said in a statement. But the airline managed to bounce back in the second half of the year, Spohr said. Lufthansa reported adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of E468m in the last three months of 2024, beating a company-provided consensus estimate by 14%. The second half got a huge boost from lower fuel prices and benefitted from ongoing demand, particularly in the lucrative transatlantic market, Spohr said. This helped the group to regain ground after a series of strikes that pushed up costs with sweeping flight cancellations and later higher wage agreements. Promising a "year of transition" in 2025, the group said the restructuring programme at Lufthansa Airlines was expected to make a gross profit contribution of around E2.5b by 2028.<br/>
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German airline group Lufthansa is hopeful that the new U.S. administration will support Boeing in overcoming issues that have led to industry-wide delivery delays, CEO Carsten Spohr said Thursday. The company expects 2025 will be the year when it starts to recieve aircraft for which it has been “waiting for so long now,” Spohr told CNBC’s Annette Weisbach. In results published Thursday, Lufthansa reported a 39% year-on-year drop in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) to E1.645b, citing delivery delays as well as staff strikes and global price pressures. The earnings nonetheless beat consensus estimates, driving shares 13% higher by early afternoon, before slightly paring gains. Lufthansa has 41 twin-aisle aircraft in the U.S. alone waiting to be delivered, Spohr said. Meanwhile, almost all of the more than 240 jets it has on order over the coming years are set to be impacted by delays of some kind. “Either due to supply chain issues within the production of the aircraft or due to certification issues, especially in the U.S. between Boeing and the [FAA],” Spohr said. “So [we are] hoping this will be overcome, maybe also with some support of the new U.S. administration, [this] will hopefully allow us to operate the most modern aircraft, which is to the advantage of our passengers but also to the advantage of our shareholders due to lower costs.”<br/>
Air France-KLM has had positive discussions with the Portuguese government about its possible participation in a privatisation of flag carrier TAP, and would agree to preserve its brand, network, and local jobs, Air France-KLM's CEO Ben Smith said on Thursday. Air-France KLM will go ahead with the project if the timing and conditions are right, Smith added at a results press conference. The Franco-Dutch group, Lufthansa, and British Airways owner IAG have shown interest in TAP's privatisation, which the Portuguese government has said it wants to carry out this year. "The discussions that took place last week were very positive from a political point of view. There is a marked interest in this partnership to be put in place with the public announcements that have been made by (French) President (Emmanuel) Macron along these lines," Smith said. The timing of the privatisation depends on the Portuguese government, Smith said, adding that Air France-KLM is ready to meet requirements on the preservation of TAP's brand and network, as well as the safeguard of local skilled jobs. The Franco-Dutch airline was invited to join the transatlantic joint venture between United Airlines and Lufthansa, and aims to form a partnership with TAP rather than a full merger, to avoid the "inquisitorial eye" of the European Commission, Smith said. The current stance of the Commission on merger deals weighs on European airlines' competitiveness, Smith said, adding that the French-Dutch group has not spoken with the EU's executive body about TAP Portugal.<br/>European regulators have said they are concerned that major takeovers will lead to higher air fares for consumers.<br/>
On March 6, 2025, Brussels Airlines, part of the Lufthansa Group of carriers, reported its financial results for 2024. The Brussels-based company ended the year by reporting an operating profit of E59m. This figure represents an improvement of 11% over the figure reported for 2023, which came in at E53m. Reliable operations, mainly on the short and medium-haul network, as well as an increase in long-haul seat capacity, allowed Brussels Airlines to improve its profitability in 2024 to this new record level, said the company. Reporting the latest figures, the airline said in a statement of its 2024 performance, “Despite a challenging start of the year with results falling short of initial projections, the airline demonstrated the effectiveness of its strategy. When operations proceed as planned, the financial performance consistently delivers satisfactory results.” Brussels Airlines operated 2% fewer flights in 2024 than in 2023. In 2024, the airline operated 61,564 flights versus the 62,949 operated in 2023. However, despite this, passenger numbers rose year-on-year, with 8.36m travelers choosing the airline in 2024 versus 8.29m the year before. Total seat capacity (measured in available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 1% from 18.1m to 18.3m in 2024. Revenue seat kilometers also rose from 14.9m in 2023 to 15.1m in 2024.<br/>