Lufthansa passenger compensation cost 500 mln euros in 2018 - executive

Air Berlin

01/02/2019 15:32

ANTWERP, Belgium, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Lufthansa  LHAG.DE 
spent 500 million euros ($573 million) on compensating
passengers for flight delays and cancellations last year, a
senior company figure said on Friday.
    A Lufthansa spokesman could not confirm the cost cited by
Thorsten Lange, the German airline's head of fuel purchasing, at
 a Platts oil product conference.
    However, the group's bill for such problems had more than
doubled to 350 million euros in the first nine months of the
year, the spokesman added. The figure for the full year is due
to be published next month.
    Lufthansa struggled last year like rivals to cope with
Europe's rising demand for air travel.
    Germany's largest airline, which owns budget carrier
Eurowings, also had problems integrating 77 aeroplanes it took
over from bankrupt domestic rival Air Berlin.
    The company has since announced it will expand its executive
board and create a position dedicated to improve operational
stability and quality of the airline group that also includes
SWISS and Austrian Airlines.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN1Y90AG
 ($1 = 0.8731 euros)
 

 (Reporting by Shadia Nasralla; additional reporting by Ilona
Wissenbach in Frankfurt and Thomas Seythal in Berlin
Editing by Keith Weir)
 ((Shadia.Nasralla@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 542 5083; +44 778
99 43141; Reuters Messaging: Reuters Messaging:
shadia.nasralla.reuters.com@reuters.net))