German airline operating margins not sufficient to completely cover cost of capital: BDL

Bundesverband der Deutschen Luftverkehrswirtschaft (BDL - Federal Association of German Air Transport) stated (09-Aug-2018) German airlines recorded an average operating revenue margin before taxes and interest of 7.6% in 2017, an improvement from 4.9% in 2016. According to IATA, airlines require a net margin between 7% and 8% to recover their capital costs. "The operating margin of 7.6% generated by the German airlines is therefore not enough to cover the cost of capital completely", BDL said. BDL noted other European airlines have a "sufficiently high operating margin", citing Ryanair with a margin of 23.3% in 2017 and British Airways with 13.1%. [more - original PR - German]