Lufthansa pledges to stay profitable
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Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe’s second-largest airline, will stay profitable and beat its rivals this year as it scales back spending and buys smaller carriers, according to Chief Executive Officer, Wolfgang Mayrhuber.
“We expect to be clearly profitable,” Bloomberg quoted Mayrhuber as saying at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Cologne. “Our major competitors are forecasting losses,” he added.
The CEO admitted however, that Lufthansa’s full-year earnings will still be “substantially below” last year, when the carrier posted net income of EUR599 million (US$793 million). According to Bloomberg, the German carrier is buying state-controlled Austrian Airlines and closely held Brussels Airlines, aiming to expand its network of intercontinental hubs in Europe.
“Once we have successfully mastered all of the obstacles, our position in, and for, Europe will be stronger,” Mayrhuber said. The added that the Austrian and Belgian carriers have been “hit hard” by the recession, and that “further consolidation of airlines in Europe is a prerequisite in order to be able to succeed in global competition”.
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