Germany's Lufthansa has posted a return to operating profit in the third quarter for the first time since the Covid crisis, supported by the easing of travel restrictions and strong demand during the summer season.
The group reported adjusted earnings before interest and tax of €17m in the quarter, compared to a loss of €1.262 billion the same time last year.
Analysts in a company-provided poll had expected an adjusted EBIT loss of €33m.
The company's third-quarter revenue almost doubled to €5.2 billion, compared with analysts' forecast for €5.5 billion.
"We have mastered another milestone on our way out of the crisis: We are back to black," chief executive Carsten Spohr said in a statement.
Lufthansa, which also owns Eurowings, Swiss, Brussels and Austrian Airlines, said it expects demand to develop positively, resulting in positive earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the fourth quarter.
It said third-quarter capacity, measured in available seat-kilometers, was 50% of the pre-crisis level. It expects 2022 capacity to rise to more than 70% of the 2019 level.
New bookings are currently at 80% of 2019 level, the airline said, prompted by recovering business bookings and rising demand for long-haul flights, especially to the US, which will open for travellers from Europe next week.
Lufthansa's air cargo business reported a record adjusted EBIT of €301m in the quarter, as demand and air freight rates rose due to ocean freight bottlenecks and global supply chains disruptions.
