LUFTHANSA Cargo has posted fiscal 2007 operating profits of EUR135.6 million (US$211.4 million) despite fierce competition and mounting excess capacities in the market.
Revenues were down year-on-year by 3.8 per cent to EUR2.74 billion.
During the year, the cargo carrier subsidiary in the Lufthansa Group transported 1.8 million tonnes of freight and mail, an increase of 2.6 per cent on the year-earlier level.
Capacity in 2007 was up by 2.2 per cent to 12,236 million freight tonne-kilometres (FTKO), while sales grew by 4.3 per cent to 8,451 million freight tonne-kilometres transported (FTKT). The cargo load factor rose by 1.4 percentage points to 69.1 per cent.
Looking ahead, Lufthansa Cargo aims to expand its market position as a global cargo carrier through "profitable, continuous and low-risk growth in all traffic regions". A key element in that strategy is the combination of several companies under the Lufthansa Cargo Group, a statement said.
In a breakdown of earnings on routes into and out of Germany, revenue from Asia again outstripped income from the Americas, Europe and the Africa/Middle East region. But Asia's share in total traffic revenue was down owing to declining yields.
In the new summer flight schedule, starting from the end of March, Lufthansa Cargo is extending its cooperation with Jade Cargo International by assuming responsibility for capacity and sales for its Sino-German cargo subsidiary on all routes from Europe to Asia.
Lufthansa Cargo also plans to develop a new logistics centre at Frankfurt Airport's CargoCity North, but that project is dependent on a practicable night-flight ruling being reached to give Lufthansa Cargo planning security. Also in the pipeline is a new logistics centre at the Lufthansa Cargo hub in Leipzig.
Moreover, a new cargo terminal, ensuing from Lufthansa Cargo's stake in the recently founded joint venture with Hua Yu Air Cargo Terminal Co (HYACT), is due to be opened shortly at Tianjin Airport.
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