The Lufthansa Group reported that total passengers in 2015 increased 1.6 percent year over year to 107.7 million, a company record. The group’s load factor for the year also reached a record 80.4 percent, up 0.3 percentage points year over year. Corporate travel analysts have been watching the group’s performance carefully since its introduction of a €16 fee for global distribution system bookings, and chairman and CEO Carsten Spohr
noted in November that growth in traffic from direct-booking channels was compensating for slowdowns in other channels. Lufthansa attributed 2015 passenger growth to bringing 17 new aircraft into service during the year and refurbishing cabins in existing aircraft.