Lufthansa Group Airlines welcome around 13.8 million passengers on board in August 2018 (+10%)

In August 2018, the Lufthansa Group airlines welcomed around 13.8 million passengers. This shows an increase of 10.0 percent compared to the previous year’s month. The available seat kilometres were up 8.2 percent over the previous year, at the same time, sales increased by 8.7 percent. In addition as compared to August 2017, the seat load factor increased by 0.5 percentage points to 86.4 percent. 

Cargo capacity increased by 3.6 percent year-on-year, while cargo sales decreased by 0.7 percent in revenue tonne-kilometre terms. As a result, the Cargo load factor showed a corresponding reduction, decreasing by 2.7 percentage points to 63.2 percent.

Network Airlines with around 10 million passengers

The Network Airlines including Lufthansa German Airlines, SWISS and Austrian Airlines carried 9.9 million passengers in August – 7.9 percent more than in the prior-year period. Compared to the previous year, the available seat kilometres increased by 5.3 percent in August. The sales volume was up by 5.9 percent over the same period, with an increasing seat load factor by 0.5 percentage points to 86.5 percent.

Double figure growth at the Munich and Zurich Hubs

In August, the strongest passenger growth of the network airlines was recorded at the Munich and Zurich hub with a double figure growth of 11.2 percent (Munich) and 10.6 percent (Zurich). The number of passengers increased by 6.9 percent in Vienna and 5.0 percent in Frankfurt. The underlying offer also increased to varying degrees: in Munich by 11.3 percent, in Zurich by 9.0 percent, in Vienna by 6.4 percent and in Frankfurt by 1.1 percent.

Lufthansa German Airlines transported 6.5 million passengers in August, a 7.3 percent increase compared to the same month last year. A 4.0 percent increase in seat kilometres in August corresponds to a 4.3 percent increase in sales. Furthermore, the seat load factor was 86.1 percent, corresponding 0.3 percentage points above last year’s level.

Eurowings increases capacity despite massive expansion in services

Eurowings (including Brussels Airlines) carried around 3.8 million passengers in July. Among this total, 3.5 million passengers were on short-haul flights and 342,000 flew on long-haul flights. This amounts to an increase of 15.8 percent in comparison to the previous year. August capacity was 21.8 percent above its prior-year level, while its sales volume was up 22.2 percent, resulting in an increase of seat load factor by o.3 percentage points to 86.0 percent.

On short-haul services the airlines raised capacity by 17.6 percent and increased sales volume by 18.7 percent, resulting in a 0.7 percentage points increased seat load factor of 85.4 percent, compared to August 2017. The seat load factor for the long-haul services decreased by 0.9 percentage points to 87.0 percent during the same period, following a 31.2 percent increase in capacity and a 29.9 percent rise in sales volume, compared to the previous year.