Global Airport News

Deutsche Lufthansa said a 140 million euro ($185.5 million) impairment charge on shares of German airport operator Fraport hit its bottom line in the first quarter.

Fraport's shares have lost around 35 percent of their value over the past year, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Nonetheless, Lufthansa still expected its operating profit to remain clearly positive this year, albeit substantially below last year's 1.35 billion euros, the German flagship carrier said in its full first-quarter financial report on Thursday.

Lufthansa on Wednesday posted a worse than expected first-quarter net loss of 256 million euros, which it blamed on one-off effects. [ID:nLS222316]

Airlines are struggling to remain profitable as businesses and consumers cut travel during the recession. World airlines are set to lose a total $4.7 billion this year, industry body International Air Transport Association said last month.

Citigroup said this week European airlines could post a collective first-quarter operating loss of 1.8 billion euros, as revenue from business travel and air cargo drops by as much as a quarter and overall passenger numbers fall 8 percent. [ID:nBNG461376]

Adding to airlines' woes, the industry is now also starting to be hit by worries over a swine flu outbreak that has sparked fears of a pandemic.

Lufthansa shares have fallen around 3 percent over the past week. British Airways and Air France-KLM , Lufthansa's two closest rivals, have lost around 11 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

On Thursday, Lufthansa's shares were indicated to fall 1.0 percent when the market opens at 0700 GMT.