The collapse of business in the corona pandemic caused Lufthansa the biggest loss in the company’s history in 2020. The bottom line was a minus of 6.7 billion euros after a profit of 1.2 billion in 2019, as the state-backed company in Frankfurt am Main announced. In the past year, the turnover of the MDax group collapsed by 63 percent to 13.6 billion euros. Once again, there will be no dividend for the shareholders.
A maximum of 50 percent of the pre-crisis supply
Due to the slump in demand during the pandemic, the number of passengers reached 36.4 million, only a quarter of the previous year’s figure. A large part of the crane fleet was on the ground, only around a third of the machines from the previous year took off.
Carsten Spohr, Lufthansa’s CEO
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After the difficult start to the new year, CEO Carsten Spohr will also be a bit more pessimistic for 2021. The flight offer is likely to reach only 40 to 50 percent of the level from the pre-crisis year 2019. So far, he had thought up to 60 percent possible. Nonetheless, Spohr hopes that the loss will be lower and that Lufthansa will not have to take full advantage of the state aid of a total of nine billion euros, despite the continuing difficult situation.
“From summer …”
“We expect stronger demand again from the summer as soon as the restrictive travel restrictions are reduced due to the further spread of tests and vaccines,” said Spohr. Lufthansa could increase its flight offer in the short term to up to 70 percent of the pre-crisis level.
sti / se (dpa, rtr)
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