- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
Lufthansa optimistic for 2022 as tourist demand bounces back
German national carrier Lufthansa on Thursday said it slashed its losses in the first quarter and set its sights on a record summer for tourist traffic as demand recovers from the pandemic.
The airline group's net loss over the first three months of 2022 came to 584 million euros ($620 million), down from one billion euros in the same quarter last year.
The improved result was due in part to the rise in air traffic as coronavirus-related restrictions were rolled back in many countries and fears over the Omicron variant ebbed.
The number of passengers on Lufthansa flights "more than quadrupled" in the first quarter to 13 million, from three million in 2021, when travel restrictions in many markets were more severe.
"New bookings are increasing from week to week," Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said in a statement, with demand rising particularly strongly among leisure travellers.
"We are expecting strong growth in the summer and probably more holiday-makers than ever before," Spohr said in a press conference.
For business travel, the recovery was slower, with the group expecting traffic to reach "around 70 percent" of its pre-coronavirus level by the end of the year, the group said in a statement.
In all, Lufthansa expected to offer "around 75 percent" of its pre-crisis capacity over the year.
- 'On track' -
Lufthansa's cargo division had a "record result" in the first quarter, the carrier said, as demand for freight remained high amid turmoil in global supply chains.
The segment recorded an operating result -- a key measure of underlying profitability -- of 495 million euros, up from 315 million euros in the first quarter of 2021.
Europe's largest airline group -- which includes Eurowings, Austrian, Swiss and Brussels Airlines -- struggled at the outbreak of the pandemic and was saved from bankruptcy by a government bailout.
But business has picked up and Lufthansa said last November it had repaid the nine-billion-euro loan it had received from the government.
The group was now "on track" to make a positive operating profit in the second quarter and over the year, chief financial officer Remco Steenbergen said at a press conference.
Nonetheless, the group would not include the target in its official guidance because of the "extremely volatile" price of fuel, a factor outside Lufthansa's control.
The surge in energy costs, driven by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was "too high to be offset by additional cost reductions", Steenbergen said, concluding that "ticket prices will have to rise".
L.Henrique--PC