Yahoo Finance Lufthansa Easter bookings lift outlook amid Ukraine war concerns
Lufthansa (LHA.DE) announced on Thursday that flight bookings for Easter and summer are "partially above pre-COVID levels" as travel measures ease and passenger confidence returns.
Germany's flag carrier aid it expected significant improvement in operating results for the rest of the year after a challenging first quarter of this year.
The airline posted an operating loss of €2.3 ($2.5bn), compared to a loss of €5.5bn in 2020. That includes €581m in restructuring costs, while net loss fell to €2.2bn.
The group, which includes Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Swiss, says summer capacity on short- and medium-haul routes have returned to 95% of 2019 levels.
It expects full-year capacity for 2022 to be at around 70% of 2019 levels and for capacity this summer to reach 85% of pre-pandemic levels.
"We are very certain that air traffic will experience a strong upswing this year. Our strategy of expanding the private travel segment has proved successful and is paying off," CEO Carsten Spohr said. "The pent-up demand for leisure and business travel was already significantly noticeable in 2021 – and this trend is set to intensify in 2022."
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Looking ahead, the carrier reduced its losses last year but remained in the red.
However, despite the upbeat tone, major uncertainties regarding developments in Ukraine and the economic and political implications, it said it could not provide a detailed guidance for 2022 due to the Ukraine crisis and the coronavirus pandemic.
Russia has shut its airspace to 36 European and US countries after European states and the US banned Russian flights. Airline firms are bracing for likely lengthy barriers of key east-west flight corridors and preparing for further disruptions to its passenger and freight businesses.
"Major uncertainties regarding the dramatic developments in Ukraine and the economic and geopolitical consequences of the conflict, as well as remaining uncertainties regarding the course of the pandemic, do not allow to provide a detailed financial outlook at present," Lufthansa said.
Shares in the company declined 6.1% in early trade on Thursday in Germany.
Lufthansa's announcement comes after Europe's biggest holiday tour operator TUI (TUI.L) also said in January that summer holiday bookings this year will be close to pre-pandemic travel levels.
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The end of travel measures for vaccinated people in the UK prompted an uptick in booking activity, with summer holiday reservations rising 19% compared to the same period in 2019.
It reported that as of 30 January a total of 3.5 million TUI customers had booked a trip for summer 2022 – this is around 72% of the levels seen during the same time in 2019. TUI added that new bookings were helping group sales recover to 100% of 2019 levels.
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