Lufthansa airlines reports loss

German airline company, Lufthansa has disclosed a hefty first-quarter loss on Monday, April 15 and downgraded its 2024 outlook because of recent strikes.

They also warned of risks from conflict in the Middle East.

According to the preliminary results, operating losses came in at 849 million euros ($902 million).

Although the beginning of the year is usually a quieter period for travel in Europe, the results were still far worse than a loss of 273 million euros in the same period in 2023.

"The loss was higher than expected due to various strikes," said Lufthansa.

Lufthansa, whose carriers include Lufthansa, Eurowings, Austrian, Swiss and Brussels Airlines, cut the forecast for its operating profit for the whole year to 2.2 billion euros.

It had previously been expecting the figure to come in broadly the same as last year, at around 2.7 billion euros.

After two years of heavy losses during the coronavirus pandemic, Lufthansa had racked up healthy profits in 2022 and 2023 as travel demand rose.

But they faced walkouts in recent months as workers pushed for higher pay to combat inflation, with Lufthansa ground staff and cabin crew staging repeated strikes.

Lufthansa personnel chief, Michael Niggemann in March 2023, had criticised the "uncompromising strikes," opining that they were "damaging our guests, the company and ultimately our employees".

But the group has in recent weeks struck deals with major staff unions, averting the immediate threat of more industrial action.

Second-quarter profits are also likely to be impacted however, and are likely to come in lower than last year due to the impacts of wage disputes on short-term demand for bookings, Lufthansa said.

Results are expected to bounce back in the second half of the year.

Lufthansa also warned that the "recent escalation of the Middle East conflict and further geopolitical uncertainties pose risks to the group's full year financial outlook".

Lufthansa has since April 6 suspended flights to and from Tehran due to soaring regional tensions.