Shipments of cargo and mail at Lufthansa fell 14.3 percent in June as an economic slump continued to weigh, Germany's flagship airline said on Thursday.
Passenger traffic retreated 5.2 percent in June, while the passenger load factor slipped 2.7 percentage points to 78.4 percent, it said in a statement.
"In the air freight sector... the market environment remained weak in June," Lufthansa said without giving a forecast for the rest of the year.
European airlines have reported little respite from the economic gloom hampering passenger air travel, but June data have suggested a slump in cargo traffic had stabilised.
Air France-KLM, Europe's biggest airline by revenues, said this week capacity cuts failed to keep up with a drop in demand as passenger traffic volumes fell 7 percent.
British Airways had said on Friday it carried 3.8 percent fewer passengers in June than in the same month last year, including a near 15 percent fall in premium traffic.
However, the company said long-running falls in traffic had stabilised in recent months, while Irish budget airline Ryanair reported its latest rise in passenger numbers -- up 13 percent for June to 5.84 million.
Low-cost airlines are performing relatively well compared to traditional network rivals since they are not exposed to the weak premium sector and have little involvement in cargo, which has slumped this year in line with a dive in world trade.
On Monday, Britain's easyJet said June passenger numbers edged up 0.8 percent to 4.15 million.
German low-cost carrier Air Berlin said on Tuesday it had boosted its yields by 14 percent in June as it cut back capacity to address a drop in traffic. |
