Lufthansa profit soars

Lufthansa on Thursday said its net profit for the July to September period increased by 41.5 percent year-on-year to 794 million euros ($867 million).

The company, which owns subsidiary Germanwings as well as Swiss and Austrian Airlines, saw its revenue up 5.1 percent in the same period.

"The realignment of the Lufthansa group is now being reflected in good results," CEO Carsten Spohr said in a statement. "There's no question that the low oil price helped us achieve these."

He conceded, though, that "we cannot expect to fly for too long with a tailwind of low oil prices."

Fierce competition in the skies

Lufthansa also logged an increase in passenger volumes in the summer months and a significantly improved load factor.

The airline said it was now projecting full-year operating profit to come in at between 1.75 and 1.95 billion euros, up from the 1.5 billion euros projected previously.

Lufthansa is in the middle of a huge restructuring process aimed at becoming more profitable and keeping at bay long-haul rivals such as Emirates and Turkish Airlines. In Europe, the carrier is struggling with mounting competition from budget airlines such as Ryanair. It's aiming to boost operations of its own no-frills carrier, Eurowings.

hg/pad (AFP, Reuters, dpa)