Lufthansa Group transports 12.4 percent more passengers in February than the previous year

• Group Airlines welcomed around 7.8 million passengers on board
• Seat load factor of 75.0% is a 2.7-percentage-point improvement from February 2016

The airlines of the Lufthansa Group transported some 7.8 million passengers in February, 12.4% more than in the same period last year. Total capacity for the month was up 8.5% in available seat-kilometer terms and total traffic volume, measured in revenue passenger-kilometers, increased by 12.6% despite one additional day in February 2016 due to the leap year.

The seat load factor improved accordingly, rising 2.7 percentage points to 75.0%. Cargo capacity increased 0.7% year-on-year, while cargo sales were up 5.2% in revenue tonne-kilometer terms. Cargo load factor for the month showed a corresponding improvement, rising 3.0 percentage points. Pricing excluding currency was negative compared to February 2016.

Hub airlines

Network airlines Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines carried 6.1 million passengers in February, 2.6% more than in the prior-year period. Capacity increased by 0.4%, while the sales volume was up 4.3%, raising seat load factor by 2.8 percentage points.

Lufthansa German Airlines transported 4.3 million passengers in February, a 1.7% increase on the same month last year. February capacity was reduced by a slight 1.7%, while the sales volume was up 2.7%. Seat load factor was 3.3 percentage points above its prior-year level.

Point-to-point airlines

The Lufthansa Group’s point-to-point airlines – Eurowings (including Germanwings) and Brussels Airlines – carried 1.7 million passengers in February. Of these, 1.5 million were on short-haul and 0.2 million on long-haul flights. This amounts to an increase of 70.4% in comparison to the previous year, which alongside organic growth is a result of the inclusion of Brussels Airlines and additional capacity through the wet lease agreement with Air Berlin.

February capacity was 109.4% above its prior-year level, while February sales volume was up 117.2%. The seat load increased by 2.6-percentage-points.

On their short-haul services the point-to-point carriers raised capacity 68.1% and increased their sales volumes by 76.5%, resulting in a 3.2-percentage-point increase in seat load factor. The seat load factor for their long-haul services decreased 9.6 percentage points, following a 242.6% increase in capacity and a 207.6% rise in sales volume, compared to the previous year.