Lufthansa passenger numbers rise

12 January 2004

FRANKFURT – German airline Lufthansa returned to growth for the first time in two years in 2003, posting a slight one percent rise in passengers the company reported Monday.

In the slight recovery as the airline sought to rebound from the shocks caused by the economic downturn and the 11 September 2001 terror attacks, Lufthansa said it carried 44.38 million passengers.

But with its available seating having been expanded last year, capacity utilization slipped 0.6 percentage points to 73.3 per cent, the airline said in Frankfurt.

Mirroring the overall difficult business and economic climate, Lufhansa’s air cargo and parcels volume dropped 2.7 percent to 1.58 million tons in 2003, the airline also reported.