After posting losses for both the fourth quarter and full year of 2021, Lufthansa Group is optimistic about 2022 and expects a "significant increase in demand for air travel," according to the company's year-end financial report. The company adding that in February it had more booked flights than at any time since the beginning of the pandemic.
"We are very certain that air traffic will experience a strong upswing this year," Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said in a statement. "People want to travel. The pent-up demand for leisure and business travel was already significantly noticeable in 2021—and this trend is set to intensify in 2022."
The carrier is expanding its coverage for the summer and expects capacity for that season to increase to around 85 percent compared with 2019. For short- and medium-haul flights, Lufthansa anticipates that figure to be around 95 percent. Full-year capacity guidance is at more than 70 percent compared with 2019.
For the fourth quarter, Lufthansa reported a net loss of €314 million. The full-year loss was €2.2 billion. Both were significant improvements over 2020 losses of €1.1 billion and €6.7 billion, respectively. Passenger revenue was €4.3 billion for the quarter, up 158 percent year over year, and €11.9 billion for the year, up 31 percent from 2020. Total revenue was €5.8 billion for the quarter and €16.8 billion for 2021.
The number of passengers for 2021 increased 29 percent year over year to 47 million. The number of flights also increased by about 18 percent compared with 2020. Based on the increase in demand, Lufthansa offered 32 percent more seat kilometers than in 2020, according to the company.
RELATED: Lufthansa Q3 2021 earnings