Lufthansa traffic figures for the first half-year 2002

9 July 2002

The traffic performance of the Lufthansa Group showed renewed signs of recovery in the first half-year. Although passenger numbers and cargo volume remained below the prior-year level, the shortfall was not as pronounced as in the first quarter of 2002. 

Thanks to capacity adjustments, the Group was once again able to improve its aircraft load factors. 

From January to June the Lufthansa Group's airlines carried 21 million passengers, 9.3 per cent fewer than in the comparable period in 2001. However, this represents an improvement on the first quarter, when the passenger count fell 11.4 per cent short of the previous year's figure. Despite a 10.8 per cent reduction in available capacity in the first six months of 2002, sales only declined by 8.5 per cent, with the result that capacity utilisation of Lufthansa's passenger aircraft rose by 1.9 percentage points to a record level of 73.7 per cent. 

The recovery trend was also evident in the freight business: in the first half of 2002 Lufthansa Cargo transported 3.6 per cent less cargo and mail, compared to 6.7 per cent less in the first quarter. The cargo load factor of 67.2 per cent exceeded the figure for the first half-year of 2001 by a gratifying 5.2 percentage points. 

The Lufthansa Group boosted its overall load factor (passenger business and cargo) to 70.8 per cent, which corresponds to an improvement of 3.4 percentage points.