He coronavirus he has air transport sector brought to its knees: months of inactivity weigh on companies such as Lufthansa, one of the main world groups that also controls Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Edelwaiss, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings and Air Dolomiti.
The situation of Lufthansa, in this case, must be taken as emblematic case, which can be easily transferred to other realities – European and non-European – hit hard by a situation never experienced so far, and certainly not only from the health point of view. And to think that it was really the German company a sound the alarm first in full pandemic: if the state does not help us, we are destined to diethey said. It weighs, for example, the forced rest in the hangars and on the runways of the airports which lasted for long months, not to mention that air transport has not yet entered full capacity.
Between quarrels about how many passengers can boardled by Ryanair) e possible cancellation of flights in August (one in three, it is estimated), so here are the (precarious) health conditions of one of the carrier largest in the world: Lufthansa explicitly speaks of “collapse of the command“, which generated an 80% drop in revenues for the entire Group. In Q2 2020, in fact, 1.9 billion euros entered, of which 1.5 billion from freight transport. In the second quarter of 2019, revenue had amounted to 9.6 billion euros. From January to June the company then spent approximately € 2 billion on the reimbursement of tickets for flights not made.
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The decline, according to the official note, was partially offset by a reduction in costs (part time for employees, containment of operating expenses and cancellation of non-essential expenses). This was not enough to make the situation less dramatic, even considering the entire first half (-52% of revenues at € 8.3 billion compared to € 17.4 billion in Q2 2019).
The data on passengers are even more striking:
- 1.7 million in Q2 2020, -96% on an annual basis
- 23.5 million in the first half of the year, -66% compared to the same period of 2019
The return to “a new norm recalibrated“It is expected not before 2024. 22,000 layoffs have been scheduled (out of 130,000 total employees) and the fleet will be reduced by at least 100 aircraft. The offer in July returned to growth, even if it represents only 20% of the volumes of the last year:
- 20% in July
- 40% in the third quarter for medium and short-haul routes, 20% for long-haul ones
- 55% in the fourth quarter for medium and short-haul routes, 50% for long-haul ones
- 95% at the end of the year for medium and short-haul routes, 70% for long-haul ones
Credits opening image: Pixabay
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