Lufthansa Group, Europe’s largest airline group, welcomes 142 million passengers in 2018

In 2018, the airlines of the Lufthansa Group carried a total of 142 million passengers, setting a new passenger record. With more than 1.2 million flights and a seat load factor of 81.4 percent, the aircraft load factor was higher than ever before.

The hubs in Zurich, Munich, and Vienna were all major contributors to the network airlines’ growth, with passenger increase of 9.5 percent, 9.3 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively. The number of passengers at the Frankfurt hub grew by 4.7 percent in 2018. Eurowings also contributed to the Lufthansa Group's new passenger record in 2018 with growth of 18 percent.

In December, the freight capacity was 4.7 percent higher than in the previous year and the ton-kilometers sold 0.4 percent higher. This results in a payload factor of 66.1 percent, which is 2.8 percentage points lower. In 2018, total freight capacity was 4.3 percent higher than in the previous year. At the same time, sales increased by 0.8 percent in this period. At 66.4 percent, the load factor was 2.3 percentage points lower than in the previous year.

In December 2018, the airlines of the Lufthansa Group welcomed around 10 million passengers on board their aircraft. This corresponds to an increase of 6.9 percent over the same month last year. The number of seat kilometers offered was 11 percent higher than the previous year, while sales increased by 10.6 percent. This results in a seat load factor of 78.5 percent, 0.3 percentage points lower than in December 2017.

Network Airlines

The network airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines, carried a total of approximately 7.3 million passengers in December, 5.8 percent more than in the same month last year. The number of seat-kilometers offered in December was 9.2 percent up on the same month last year. Sales in seat kilometers rose by 9.1 percent in the same period. The seat load factor fell by 0.1 percentage points to 78.7 percent.

In total, the network airlines carried around 104 million passengers last year, 7.4 percent more than in the same period last year. The seat load factor for network airlines rose by 0.4 percentage points to 81.5 percent during this period.

Eurowings Group

In point-to-point traffic, the Lufthansa Group carried 2.6 million passengers with Eurowings (including Germanwings) and Brussels Airlines in December, of which represented approximately 2.3 million customers on short-haul flights and 294,000 customers on long-haul flights. This represents an increase of 9.9 percent over the previous year. The 19.5 percent increase in the number of flights on offer in December was offset by a 17.5 percent increase in sales. At 78 percent, the seat load factor was 1.4 percentage points lower than in the same month last year.

On short-haul routes, the number of seat-kilometers offered increased by 18 percent in December, while the number of seat-kilometers sold rose by 13.9 percent over the same period. At 74.3 percent, the seat load factor was 2.6 percentage points lower than in the same month last year. On long-haul routes, the seat load factor rose by 0.3 percentage points to 83.1 percent over the same period. The 21.6 percent increase in capacity was offset by a 22.1 percent increase in sales.

In 2018, the Eurowings Group carried a total of around 38.5 million passengers, 18 percent more than in the previous year. At 81.3 percent, the seat load factor during this period was 1.4 percentage points higher than in the previous year.

About The Lufthansa Group
The Lufthansa Group is the world’s biggest airline group in in terms of revenue, and is also the market leader in Europe’s airline sector. The Group strives to be the “First Choice in Aviation” for its customers, employees, shareholders and partners. And safety, quality, reliability and innovation are the prime credentials and priorities of all its business activities.
The Lufthansa Group is divided into the three strategic areas of Hub Airlines, Point-to-Point Business and Service Companies. The Group’s network carriers, with their premium brands of Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines, serve its home market from their Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Vienna hubs. With its Eurowings brand, the Group also offers short- and long-haul point-to-point services in the growing private travel market. And with its service companies, which are all global market leaders in their individual industries, the Lufthansa Group has found success in further areas of the aviation business.
The Lufthansa Group’s airlines currently (Winter Schedule) serve 271 destinations in 105 countries on four continents and offer 11,111 weekly frequencies. The Group’s total fleet comprises some 728 aircraft and its member airlines will be taking delivery of 180 new aircraft between now and 2025. In 2017, the Lufthansa Group employed around 130,000 personnel, welcomed 130 million passengers aboard its flights and generated sales of around EUR 35.6 billion.
The Lufthansa Group is headed by its five-member Executive Board. Carsten Spohr is Chairman & CEO; Thorsten Dirks is in charge of Eurowings and aviation services; Harry Hohmeister bears responsibility for the commercial management of the Group’s hub airlines and airports; Ulrik Svensson is head of finance and IT; and Dr. Bettina Volkens is in charge of HR and legal affairs.