Lufthansa Cargo is recovering from the challenges of 2016 with the Logistics business segment posting an EBITDA profit of €167 million ($196 million) between January and September.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) improved by 16,600 per cent from €1 million between January and September 2016, and the third quarter also recovered, growing from €5 million in 2016 to €42 million in 2017.

Revenue increased by 18.2 per cent to €1.7 billion due to volumes and prices, and net traffic revenue was up 15.9 per cent to €1.6 billion with all areas of the world registering growth.

Middle East/Africa revenue grew five per cent to €126 million, followed by Europe increasing 5.3 per cent to €139 million, Americas by 17.7 per cent to €685 million and Asia/Pacific by 18.8 per cent to €694 million.

Lufthansa says the expansion of the Lufthansa Cargo Cool Center is progressing well, and the Road Feeder Service Cool service has been introduced.

Two Boeing MD-11Fs held for sale since 2016 were sold, and another decommissioned MD-11F returned to service due to good business performance.

For the Lufthansa Group as a whole, revenue rose 12.1 per cent to €26.7 billion and net profit for the period was up 0.1 per cent to €1.8 billion.

Deutsche Lufthansa chairman of the executive board, Carsten Spohr says: “We achieved another record earnings result in the first nine months of this year. A result that gives us the investment and growth capabilities we need to play an active part in the consolidation of the European airline market, and to continue to invest in the future of our company.”

Spohr expects a strong end to 2017, saying: “As our strong results confirm, we are successfully implementing our strategic initiatives in all our business segments. This is a great team achievement, to which all our 130,000 employees have made their contribution. Our shared success motivates us to consistently move ahead on this strategic path.”