With 130 million passengers the airlines of Lufthansa Group reach an all-time high in 2017 and overtakes Ryanair as the number one airline in Europe

• Airlines continue to set new records for passenger numbers and load factors
• 9.3 million passengers flew with the Lufthansa Group Airlines in December, therefore 19.9% more than in the previous year
• Point-to-point traffic drives growth of Lufthansa Group Airlines
• Seat load factor improved by 1.1 percentage points up to 78.9%
• Currency adjusted yield indication continuous to develop positively

In December 2017, the airlines of the Lufthansa Group welcomed around 9.3 million passengers. This shows an increase of 19.9% compared to the previous year’s month. The available seat kilometres were up 14.2% over the previous year, at the same time, sales increased by 15.9%. The seat load factor improved accordingly, rising 1.1 percentage points compared to December 2016 to 78.9%. In total, the airlines of the Lufthansa Group welcomed around 130 million passengers on board their aircraft in 2017 and set with this number a new passenger record. The seat load factor on the 1.1 million flights last year remained on a record course of 80.9 percent.

The currency adjusted yield indication continuous to develop positively in December.

Cargo capacity increased 6.6% year-on-year, while cargo sales were up 5.8% in revenue tonne-kilometre terms. As a result, the Cargo load factor decreased 0.5 percentage points in December. Overall, the cargo capacity in 2017 was 3.3% higher than in the previous year. At the same time, cargo sales in this period increased by 7.4%, resulting in a load factor of 2.7 higher percentage points than in 2016.

Network Airlines
The Network Airlines Lufthansa German Airlines, SWISS and Austrian Airlines carried 7 million passengers in December, 7.4% more than in the prior-year period. Compared to the previous year, the available seat kilometres increased by 4.5% in December. The sales volume was up 5.8% over the same period, raising seat load factor by 1 percentage points to 78.7%. In 2017, the Network Airlines carried 97.4 million passengers and therefore 6.8% more than in the previous year. During this period, the seat load factor for Network Airlines increased by 2.1 percentage points to 81.1%.

Lufthansa German Airlines transported 4.7 million passengers in December, a 7.3% increase compared to the same month last year. A 4.2% increase in seat kilometres in December corresponds to a 5.1% increase in sales. Furthermore, the seat load factor was up to 79.2%, therefore 0.7 percentage points above the prior year’s level. In 2017, Lufthansa German Airlines carried 66.2 million passengers, 6.1% more than in the previous year. At 81.6%, the seat load factor was 2.5 percentage points higher than in 2016.

Point-to-Point Airlines
The Lufthansa Group’s Point-to-Point Airlines – Eurowings (including Germanwings) and Brussels Airlines – carried around 2.4 million passengers in December. Among this total, 2.1 million passengers were on short-haul flights and 251,000 flew long-haul. This amounts to an increase of 80.3% in comparison to the previous year. December capacity was 107.2% above its prior-year level, while its sales volume was up 113%, resulting in an increased seat load factor by 2.2 percentage points to 79.4%.

On short-haul services the Point-to-Point Airlines raised capacity 77.7% and increased sales volume by 90.1%, resulting in a 5.0 percentage points increase in seat load factor of 77.0%, compared to December 2016. The seat load factor for the long-haul services decreased 5.7 percentage points to 82.7% during the same period, following a 170.1% increase in capacity and a 152.8% rise in sales volume, compared to the previous year.

The Point-to-Point Airlines carried a total of 32.6 million passengers in 2017, 77.0% more than in the previous year. At 79.9%, the seat load factor was 0.3 percentage points higher than in 2016.