Lufthansa Group said it will operate just a quarter of its normal capacity in the last quarter of the year, with air travel demand expected to remain low in the coming months.
The announcement came as the Group reported that through the expansion of its schedule over the July-August summer period, along with "considerable" cost reductions, it was able to manage to reduce its losses in the third quarter, compared to the previous three months.
"Demand for air travel is expected to remain low in the coming winter months due to the global evolution of the pandemic and the associated travel restrictions. According to current planning, the Group's airlines will only offer a maximum of 25% of the previous year's capacity in the fourth quarter to ensure that flight operations continue to generate a positive cash contribution," Lufthansa said in a statement, reiterating, however, that the Group is in a position to withstand further burdens from the corona pandemic.
The German carrier said the adjusted free cash flow for the first nine months of 2020 amounted to €-2,579 million (previous year: € 685 million).
In the third quarter, adjusted free cash flow was €-2,069 million (previous year: €416 million).
Lufthansa said the Group also benefited from strict working capital management and the postponement of tax payments.
At the end of September, the Group noted that it has liquidity of €10.1 billion at its disposal. This figure includes undrawn funds from the €9 billion stabilization packages from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium. Out of those, the carrier said €6.3 billion is still available.
Lufthansa Group also announced it is working intensively on restructuring measures in all its business segments in order to achieve short and medium-term cost savings and minimize the operating cash outflow.
