Lufthansa Cargo has seen revenue and total tonnage for the first half of 2015 increase year on year (YOY).
The carrier says it performance in the second quarter was down on the first quarter, due to the introduction of the summer timetable where competitors increased their freight capacity in many markets, thereby “placing prices under increasing pressure”.
Lufthansa Cargo’s revenue for the first half of the year was 1.1 billion euros, a YOY rise of 3.7 per cent. Total saw a YOY tonnage rise of 0.5 per cent to 811,000 tonnes. Capacity in available cargo tonne kilometres rose by 3.2 per cent to 6.1 billion. Revenue cargo tonne kilometres fell by 0.4 per cent to 4.4 billion. The cargo load factor for the first half of 2015 was 67.6 per cent, a YOY drop of 2.5 percentage points.
The carrier says: “Demand on global airfreight markets picked up in the first quarter of 2015, but lost momentum in the second quarter. Competition on global airfreight markets remains intense. Airlines from the Middle East and Turkey especially are increasing their freight capacities, particularly due to their many new passenger aircraft.
“Faced with these market conditions, Lufthansa Cargo focuses on the utmost quality and flexible capacity management. Some airlines altered their pricing models at the beginning of the year, taking the first step towards all-in rates that no longer show the fuel surcharge separately.
“Lufthansa Cargo is observing this trend, analysing developments in pricing structures and evaluating them carefully.”
The Lufthansa Group as a whole saw cargo tonnage fall YOY in the first half of the year by 0.9 per cent to 924,000 tonnes, down on the 932,000 tonnes in the same period of 2014.
The Group’s cargo load factor was 67.6 per cent, a fall of 2.6 percentage points on the 70.2 per cent last year. Available cargo tonne kilometres went up 3.1 per cent to 20.5 billion. Revenue cargo tonne kilometres were up two per cent to 15.1 billion, from 14.8 billion.
For the first six months of 2014, the Lufthansa Group as a whole saw revenue rise 8.5 per cent to 15.3 billion euros, up from 14.1 billion in the first half of 2014. Net profit was 954 million euros, compared to a 79 million euro loss in the same period last year.
Deutsche Lufthansa chairman of financial and aviation services, Simone Menne, says results in the first half of the year were “solid”. He says the fall in fuel costs is largely responsible for the improvement in the results.
