Lufthansa Needs More Action To Avoid Loss
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Jens Flottau/Paris jflottau@freenet.de
Lufthansa said today that it will have to come up with additional cost savings to keep the airline from making losses this year. The profit warning revises an earlier guidance predicting a significant operating profit in 2009.
The carrier stated that traffic and yields remain at low levels. It did not specify which additional measures are needed, but an official said that so far no lay-offs are on the agenda.
Lufthansa and DHL also officially launched their joint venture freight carrier Aerologic. The airline has taken delivery of its first new Boeing 777F and will add seven more until the end of 2010. Plans for additional growth are shelved, officials said, with the cargo sector being severely hit in the current downturn.
Separately, the European Commission is demanding massive capacity cuts at Austrian Airlines as a remedy for approval of the planned Lufthansa takeover. Peter Michaelis, head of Austria's state holding OEIAG, said the commission wants the airline to reduce its fleet by 20 aircraft. That would be a cut of more than 20% as the airline currently has a fleet of 95 aircraft. Additionally, Lufthansa would have to give up frequencies on certain routes to allow for a new competitor to enter. The commission is understood to be particularly concerned with routes between Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany.
Photo credit: Ingrid Friedl/Lufthansa
