Lufthansa Cargo profit slips 66pc to US$84.7 million in first 9 months

GERMANY's Lufthansa Cargo has posted a 61.1 per cent year-on-year operating profit decline to EUR66 million (US$84.7 million) the first nine months of 2012 as revenue fell 9.7 per cent over the same period.

"Ever-growing low cost airlines and carriers from the Middle East are challenging us in our core business segment. Fuel costs remain stubbornly high," said company chairman and CEO Christoph Franz.

The company has also withdrawn its services to Chongqing due to insufficient volumes, despite adding Detroit, Montevideo and Tel Aviv. But no relief is expected from pre-Christmas volumes and the company hope is for a recovery to be achieved mid-2013.

Another problem has been the night-flight ban at Frankfurt Airport which worsened the impact of a weakening international market with cargo volumes falling 8.9 per cent, noted UK's Transport Intelligence.

Asia Pacific saw a 12.9 per cent drop in volume while tonne-kilometre revenue fell 11.3 per cent, though rate stability was regained through an aggressive reduction in capacity, with available tonne kilometres falling 7.9 per cent.

London's Loadstar reported $5.20 per kilo from Shanghai to the US, attributing the increase to product launches in the consumer electronics sector which in turn have driven load factors.