Lufthansa more than doubled its profits in the second quarter of this year despite recent trade tensions. “The Lufthansa Group remains on track,” says CEO Carsten Spohr, referring to the net profit of 1.2 billion euros.
Air France-KLM also reported significantly higher profits in the past quarter compared to the same period a year earlier. The Franco-Dutch airline groups reported a net profit of €649 million, compared to €165 million the previous year.
37 million passengers
Lufthansa’s net profit for the period from April to June totaled 1.2 billion euros, representing a significant increase from 469 million euros a year earlier.
At that time, Lufthansa was struggling with a wave of strikes. Revenue grew by 3% to over 10 billion euros. More than 37 million passengers flew with the group’s airlines last quarter, compared to 35.9 million a year earlier.
In April, Lufthansa remained concerned that economic uncertainty and US trade tariffs would hurt transatlantic air travel, which is the most lucrative for airlines. However, according to Lufthansa, demand in the United States has remained strong despite a weaker US dollar.
The acquisition of a minority stake in ITA Airways, the Italian state-owned airline that emerged from Alitalia, also yielded a “positive result.” The air freight division also benefited from strong demand for e-commerce deliveries from Asia.
Loss for Brussels Airlines
The group, which also includes subsidiaries Eurowings, Austrian Airlines, Swiss, and Brussels Airlines, expects operating profit to be “significantly higher” than the €1.6 billion result in 2024.
Brussels Airlines, on the other hand, suffered an adjusted operating loss (EBIT) of 46 million euros in the first six months. This is slightly better than in the same period last year; however, various union actions, among other factors, have cost the airline approximately 12 million euros. During that period, it carried 4.2 million passengers (+8%) on approximately 32,400 flights (+11%). The average load factor was just under 80%.
Unexpected maintenance costs for several aircraft operating long-haul flights, as well as a negative revaluation of assets, also weighed on the operating result. “Despite the headwinds, we remain confident of strong, profitable results for the full year 2025,” says Nina Öwerdieck, CFO of Brussels Airlines.
Profit of €649 million for Air France-KLM
Air France-KLM’s revenue in the second quarter rose by 6% to over 8.4 billion euros. This increase is partly due to a rise in passenger numbers.
In the second quarter, the company’s airlines carried over 27 million passengers, approximately 6% more than in the same quarter a year earlier. More people also opted to purchase more expensive tickets for greater comfort during their flight.
At the same time, fuel costs remained low in recent months, compared to last year. On an annual basis, this resulted in a difference of more than 200 million euros in the second quarter. Air France-KLM reported a profit of 649 million euros for the past quarter.
Higher airport charges at Schiphol
In contrast to its sister company Air France, KLM posted a lower operating profit in the past quarter. In June, the Dutch airline was affected by the NATO summit in The Hague, which meant that some of the flights via Schiphol could not take place that month. Seven KLM 787 aircraft also had to remain grounded for maintenance in May.
Additionally, Schiphol’s airport charges impacted KLM’s results. The airport increased the fees that airlines must pay to use Schiphol by 41% since April.
