Lufthansa Group spreads its wings — strong demand and disciplined cost management lifted operating profit despite higher fuel costs

ANDRIEVSKII.CH | November3, 2026

Lufthansa Group reported the following third-quarter results:

• Revenue rose nine percent to €12.2 billion, the highest in the company’s history.
• Higher fuel prices added more than half a billion euros in costs.
• Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose six percent to €1.4 billion.
• Moderate growth and strict cost management limited the increase in unit costs at the network airlines to half a percent.
• Lufthansa Cargo tripled its operating profit to €162 million.
• Lufthansa Technik increased adjusted EBIT by more than 50 percent year on year to €200 million.

Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said:

“The past quarter was the strongest in Lufthansa Group’s history in terms of revenue. We increased operating profit by six percent compared with the previous year. Revenue growth amid consistently strong demand and strict cost discipline allowed us to more than offset an increase in fuel costs of around half a billion euros. Our investments in modernizing the fleet and improving onboard service are increasingly paying off. Lufthansa Airlines remains our focus. Having improved reliability and customer satisfaction, we must accelerate the financial turnaround of our core brand through both planned and additional measures, so it can once again serve as Lufthansa Group’s flagship and benchmark for value creation.”

Group financial results

A year earlier, revenue was €11.2 billion and adjusted EBIT was €1.3 billion. Fuel costs rose by €543 million. The adjusted EBIT margin fell from 11.9% to 11.5%.

Net profit rose by around €300 million to €1.3 billion, compared with €966 million a year earlier. Adjusted free cash flow was €793 million, compared with €818 million.

Network and point-to-point airlines

Capacity at the network airlines increased by 1.6%, mainly on long-haul routes. Yield rose by 6.8%, while the load factor fell by 1.3 percentage points. Unit revenue increased by 5.2%. The segment’s adjusted EBIT was €853 million, down €108 million year on year.

Eurowings cut capacity by 3.5 percent after suspending flights to the Persian Gulf region. Unit revenue rose 10.0 percent, while unit costs excluding fuel and emissions rose 4.8 percent. Profit from the SunExpress joint venture rose by €20 million to €103 million. Adjusted EBIT in the point-to-point segment increased by €16 million to €214 million.

Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Cargo

Lufthansa Technik’s revenue rose 20 percent to €2.3 billion, up from €1.9 billion a year earlier. Adjusted EBIT increased 54 percent, from €130 million to €200 million. The margin rose by 1.9 percentage points to 8.6 percent.

Lufthansa Cargo increased capacity by five percent by using cargo space on ITA Airways aircraft. Freight volumes rose seven percent, the load factor increased by three percentage points, and yield rose 22 percent. The adjusted EBIT margin increased from 6.0 percent to 15.6 percent.

Cash flow and balance sheet

In the first nine months, operating cash flow fell by around €500 million to approximately €3.4 billion. Net investment was €1.2 billion, compared with €1.8 billion a year earlier. Adjusted free cash flow reached €1.8 billion.

As of September 30, 2026, net debt including net pension obligations stood at €7.3 billion, down from €8.3 billion at the end of 2025. Available liquidity rose to €11.8 billion.

Till Streichert, CFO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said:

“We are pleased to have improved our results year on year, even though higher fuel costs affected the quarterly result by more than half a billion euros. Strong passenger demand, disciplined management of unit costs, and significant profit contributions from Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa Technik all helped. We also expect favorable demand in the fourth quarter. With the geopolitical situation unchanged, we now expect full-year fuel costs to reach €9.3 billion. However, with our passenger airlines hedged at around 86 percent for 2026 and already more than 60 percent for 2027, we are well positioned. Given our progress so far this year and the increase in fuel costs, we are narrowing our earnings outlook to a range of €1.7 billion to €2.0 billion. We are confident that we will come in within this range, in line with capital market expectations. Where we land will depend on fuel costs and demand, and especially on Lufthansa Cargo’s earnings.”

Andrievskii Verdict

The dogs bark, and the caravan moves on. In aviation, it goes like this: fuel gets dearer, the plane keeps flying, and the passengers keep paying. Judging by Lufthansa’s record revenue, nobody at headquarters is complaining much about that last part.

All in all, Lufthansa has done well. It lifted operating profit despite higher fuel costs and beat Air France–KLM to the prize in Portugal. The Portuguese government selected Lufthansa to acquire a stake of up to 49.9% in TAP Air Portugal. The deal has yet to close.

In my view, Lufthansa shares look undervalued. As of November 3, 2026, they traded at 13.5× trailing earnings and 7.1× forward earnings. Lufthansa itself expects €1.7–2.0 billion in adjusted EBIT for 2026. Lt works out what this flight is worth, Lufthansa has paid dividends three years running. Shareholders received €0.30 per share in May 2024 and again in May 2025, followed by €0.33 in May 2026.

Disclaimer: This publication is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute personalised investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell securities. Investments in financial instruments involve risks, including the potential loss of capital.

Aleksei Andrievskii | Advisory Board Member, Bendura Bank AG | Liechtenstein