Lufthansa turned in another record year in 2006. The number of passengers and of operated flights as well as capacity and sales all ended the year at an all-time high.

In 2006, the airlines in the Group carried 53.4 million passengers, an increase on the year-earlier level of 4.2 per cent. Sales rose by 2.0 per cent on an increase of 1.8 per cent in capacity. The passenger load factor was up accordingly by 0.2 percentage points to 75.2 per cent. The Group posted above-average growth at the end of the year. Passenger numbers in December boosted by the mild winter weather climbed year-on-year in the month by 6.9 per cent. The seat load factor rose by 1.4 percentage points.

Lufthansa Cargo carried 1.76 million tonnes of freight and mail in 2006, an increase of 1.3 per cent. Sales rose on slightly reduced capacity by 3.5 per cent, with the result that the cargo load factor grew by 2.7 percentage points to 67.7 per cent. Overall utilisation of capacity on passenger and cargo aircraft was up by 1.4 percentage points to 72.1 per cent.

The number of flights operated by the airline also reached a new peak in 2006. During the year, aircraft bearing the crane emblem took off and landed safely 664,382 times at one or other of the 200 or so destinations in the Lufthansa route network.

"These figures underscore the success of the strategy we are pursuing," noted the Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO, Wolfgang Mayrhuber. "They speak volumes for our product, our sales performance, capacity management and service." The Lufthansa Chairman emphasised the airline's determination to continue on the growth path in the future. "But to do that, internationally competitive structures need to be created and entrenched. Only in that way can we develop in line with market demand and generate positive impulses for the air traffic base in Germany."