Lufthansa consolidates after year of strong growth in Birmingham

GERMAN airline Lufthansa has seen a second year of strong growth in passenger volumes at Birmingham Airport.

However, the carrier has warned growth is likely to be much harder this year given the on-going economic conditions.

During 2012 the airline carried 586,000 passengers through Birmingham, a 21% increase on the 484,503 in 2011, which was itself a 19% increase on the previous year.

Christian Schindler, the airline’s director for the UK and Ireland, told TheBusinessDesk.com that Lufthansa was delighted with the support of passengers from Birmingham and it was hoping to retain as many of them as possible during the year ahead.

This time last year the airline was primed for growth with the launch of new services. It re-launched the Birmingham to Hamburg route in May, followed a month later by the new Birmingham to Berlin route.

However, the likelihood of new services this year is much less as the airline looks to consolidate its position.

“We have exceeded market growth in Birmingham and remain confident in Birmingham’s ability to attract customers,” said Mr Schindler.

“However, this year we have no plans for new destinations and there will be flat growth in the fleet; old aircraft will be replaced by new ones which are more fuel efficient and have better facilities.

“Research suggests the European situation will affect business, nevertheless, Birmingham is viewed as an important destination by European customers and will remain an important hub for us.”

He said for the year ahead the airline would continue to focus on its short haul, low-cost operation where a lot of the business’s volume would come from. At the same time, it is promoting its high quality Business and First Class services to its regular business and long-haul passengers.

Mr Schlinder said the fleet’s on-going refurbishment of its high margin facilities would continue, while the airline will focus on developing long-haul destinations to the Middle East and South Africa where it is seeing strong growth.