Iberia and Lufthansa shares ease
Iberia Airlines reports that overall passenger load factors in 2010 rose to 82.2% from 79.8% in the year earlier. Dec-2010 average load factors fell to 78.4% in Dec-2010, down from 79% in Dec-2009.
Load factors on domestic flights was 69.1% in Dec-2010, up from 66.7% during the same period in 2009. Long-haul load factors fell, affected by the European travel chaos over the past month. Shares in Iberia were down 2.7% in trading on Thursday. The carrier will remove its listing from the IBEX-35 from 21-Jan-2010, as a result of its merger with British Airways.
Also down were shares in Lufthansa, which fell 2.7%. The carrier reported 2010 group traffic of 90.2 million, up 17.2% year-on-year thanks to acquisitions of bmi, Austrian Airlines and SWISS. Traffic at Lufthansa alone was up 5.9% to 58.9 million passengers.
Selected European airlines daily share price movements (% change): 13-Jan-2011
