The AUA parent Lufthansa flew in a record loss. The bottom line was a minus of 6.7 billion euros.
The corona pandemic is affecting airlines worldwide, flights are canceled.
The AUA had completely stopped flight operations for around three months in spring 2020. That also “led to a standstill in the account”, said AUA boss Alexis von Hoensbroech. The pandemic catapulted the airline into “the most challenging time in the history of aviation.”
The AUA lost an adjusted EUR 319 million at the operational level, unadjusted the AUA operating loss amounted to EUR 379 million, as the airline announced on Thursday.
AUA's turnover melted to a quarter of the more than two billion euros in 2019. The number of passengers fell from 14.6 million passengers in 2019 by 79 percent to 3.1 million. Total revenues fell by 69 percent to EUR 672 million. This also includes the EUR 150 million disaster aid that AUA received from the Austrian federal government. The AUA booked this subsidy, which does not have to be repaid, in December.
The collapse in business brought about a record loss for Lufthansa in 2020. The bottom line was a minus of 6.7 billion euros after a profit of 1.2 billion a year earlier, as the state-backed company announced in Frankfurt on Thursday. After the difficult start into the new year, CEO Carsten Spohr will also be a bit more pessimistic for 2021. The flight offer is likely to reach only 40 to 50 percent of the level from the pre-crisis year 2019. So far, he had thought up to 60 percent possible.
No dividend for shareholders
In the past year, the turnover of the MDax group collapsed by 63 percent to 13.6 billion euros. Once again, there will be no dividend for the shareholders. For 2021, Spohr assumes that the loss will be lower and that Lufthansa will not have to make full use of the state aid of a total of 9 billion euros despite the continuing difficult situation.
The parent company Lufthansa, which narrowly escaped bankruptcy, wants to post a lower operating loss this year after the highest loss in the company's history. “From the summer we expect a stronger demand as soon as the restrictive travel restrictions are reduced due to the further spread of tests and vaccines,” said Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr and called for travel bans and quarantine obligations to be lifted.
Both Lufthansa and AUA had to receive state support due to the corona crisis.
