Lufthansa Says Europe, Asia Lifted May Traffic Numbers

Lufthansa said increased travel in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region led to a 2.2 percent rise in passenger traffic in May, though this lagged its biggest European competitors.

The passenger load factor rose 0.6 of a percentage point to 74.5 percent, Lufthansa said earlier this week. The amount of freight and mail carried ratcheted up 4.2 percent from the year-earlier month to 148,000 tons, the German carrier added.

Traffic grew 9.9 percent on routes within Europe and Germany, more than filling an 8.8 percent increase in capacity after Lufthansa offered lower fares to step up its battle with the region´s fast-growing low-cost airlines.

A 7.8 percent gain in traffic to and from Asia-Pacific outpaced a 2.6 percent capacity increase, boosting the passenger load factor by 3.8 percentage points to 79.1 percent.

Lufthansa cut capacity faster than it lost traffic on routes to and from the Americas, nudging the load factor up 0.6 of a percentage point to 80.9 percent as traffic fell 5.3 percent.