Lufthansa Group's nine-month results detail for the first time the contributions of newly-acquired carriers BMI and Austrian Airlines, and also show that the company's budget operation Germanwings is profitable.

Lufthansa's overall passenger airline division recorded a fall in operating result to €239 million ($352 million), with Lufthansa's own airlines contributing €36 million to the figure.

BMI, which joined the group in July, contributed revenues of €301 million for the period but an operating deficit of €10 million.

Lufthansa states that it expects a full-year operating loss from BMI, adding: "A comprehensive restructuring plan to increase profitability is currently being prepared."

Austrian's contribution since full consolidation on 3 September amounted to a €38 million operating profit - although this includes a one-time effect of €26 million - on revenues of €188 million.

Swiss International Air Lines posted a 67% fall in its contribution to the group, which reached €75 million, after revenues dipped by 14.5% to €2 billion.

Budget airline Germanwings' revenues were down by 7.6% to €451 million, as a result of reduced capacity, but the airline increased its operating result substantially to €39 million.

Lufthansa chief executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber says: "Whereas recent months have seen the stabilisation of demand in the passenger business, revenues remain at rock-bottom despite record load factor."

Traffic revenue across the passenger airline group fell by 12.7% to €11.1 billion although Lufthansa says that, without BMI and Austrian, the decline would have been 16.2%.

But it adds that, without the two additional carriers, it would have cut operating expenses by 9% rather than the posted fall of 5.7% to €12.8 billion.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news