Lufthansa passenger numbers rise 27% in Oct-2009; BA faces downgrade

Shares in Lufthansa dipped 0.8% yesterday, upon the release of its consolidated traffic highlights for Oct-2009. The Group's passenger numbers increased 26.9% year-on-year to 8.0 million for the month, while load factor gained 1.7 ppts year-on-year to a strong 80.5%. The Europe and Middle East/Africa regions led the Group's passenger traffic growth, up 31.3% and 42.5% year-on-year, respectively. However, cargo volumes reduced 4.1% year-on-year in Oct-2009.