German airline Lufthansa does not expect air travel demand to recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2024, and will cut 22,000 jobs as part of a restructuring programme.
"We are experiencing a caesura in global air traffic," it said. "Especially for long-haul routes there will be no quick recovery."
Part of the airline's restructuring programme is a permanent reduction of 100 aircraft from its fleet, and to discontinue its Germanwings subsidiary. It recently received a €9bn government bailout that includes the German state taking a 20pc stake in the company.
The airline has said it plans to resume 40pc of its short-haul and around 20pc of its long-haul operations in the current quarter, and its expects capacity to increase to 50-55pc on both in the fourth quarter. It plans to resume up to 95pc of its short- and medium-haul destinations by the end of the year.
Lufthansa carried 1.7mn passengers in the second quarter, down by 96pc from a year earlier. Capacity as measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs) fell by 95pc, and the seat load factor fell by 27 percentage points to 56pc. Freight capacity offered fell by 54pc because of the lack of capacity on passenger aircraft.
Its jet fuel expenses fell by 94.8pc to €94mn, as a result of lower consumption. But as a result of only limited uptake in long-haul routes, Lufthansa expects a significant fall in profit, at the level of adjusted earnings before interest and tax, (Ebit) for the full year.
The collapse in travel demand resulted in a 80pc decline in revenue, to €1.9bn from €9.6bn a year earlier. Lufthansa made a €1.49bn loss, compared with a €226mn profit in the second quarter of 2019.
