Lufthansa May traffic disappoints: Middle East/Africa capacity increases 15.4%, but Europe pax down

"The weak demand experienced in recent months continued unchanged in May." This tune resounds around most airlines today. And Lufthansa is proving to be no exception. Despite capacity reductions, may-09's 5.1% year on year decline in passenger numbers (to 4.9 million) was still too steep, generating substantial load factor declines (-4.4ppts) against a background of diminishing yields (although not reported yet).