Europe's struggling airline industry received a shot in the arm yesterday when German carrier Lufthansa raised its profits forecast for the year and ordered 10 new Airbus jets
Published:
1 August 2002 y., Thursday
Hammered by the slump in demand since last September's terrorist attacks on the US, European airlines have savaged costs, including thousands of jobs and planned orders, to restore profitability.
Lufthansa's forecast that its operating profits this year would be €500m (£314m) - compared with the €400m it predicted at its June annual meeting - propelled British Airways' shares skywards. They closed up 11p, or 7.4%, at 160p - the third highest rise in the FTSE 100 on the day.
The boost to BA's stock came ahead of tomorrow's first-quarter figures, which are expected to show pre-tax profits of around £80m - compared with the £200m pre-tax losses for the whole of 2001 and £50m earnings in the first quarter a year ago.
The airline also announced changes to its winter schedule which increase services to lucrative destinations such as New York and switch more routes from Gatwick to Heathrow in order to regain profitability. BA is increasing daily sub-sonic flights from Heathrow to New York from six to seven and weekly flights to Cape Town from seven to 10 among the changes, which will see capacity static compared with 2001.
Lufthansa said it would buy 10 Airbus A330-300s for delivery in 2004, prompting Airbus to claim it had so far won 76% of the medium to long range market so far this year.
Šaltinis:
guardian.co.uk
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The EU needs a strategy by 2011 to encourage the creation of green jobs, says a draft resolution by the Employment and Social Affairs Committee that was adopted on Wednesday.
more »
Householders should not have to go without gas due to a gas-supply crisis, and such crises should be better managed, thanks to EU-wide co-ordination procedures and interconnection requirements laid down in draft legislation agreed informally with the Council at the end of June and approved by the Industry Committee on Tuesday.
more »
Today the Council has taken the formal decision which will pave the way for the introduction of the euro in Estonia as of 1 January 2011 and will become the 17th European Union country to share the euro currency.
more »
Proposals to improve protection for bank account holders and retail investors, and set up similar schemes for insurance policies.
more »
How should the EU's farm policy be reshaped and how should it be funded after 2013?
more »
MEPs on Wednesday approved some of the strictest rules in the world on bankers' bonuses.
more »
Long before the financial crisis the European Parliament regularly pointed out the significant failures in the EU’s supervision of ever more integrated financial markets.
more »
New strategy for stimulating tourism in Europe – to realise the full potential of an industry that already plays an important role in the economy.
more »
The European Commission has disclosed who in 2009 received EU funds in policy areas like research, education and culture, energy and transport or external aid.
more »
The European Commission has approved 19 programmes in 14 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, France, Greece, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom) to provide information on and to promote agricultural products in the European Union.
more »