Passenger growth returns for Lufthansa

MANCHESTER passenger numbers have returned to positive growth for German airline Lufthansa, after a 5% fall in full year figures for 2009.

Manchester passenger numbers were down 5% to 540,500 in 2009. Marianne Sammann, Lufthansa’s general manager for the UK and Ireland admitted 2009 had been a “difficult year” for the airline.

She said: “Within that there was significant growth to Asia and the Middle East – traffic to the Middle East increased 140% in 2009.

“People would rather go via Frankfurt than by Heathrow – and it’s quicker too. People see they get a good deal to go via Frankfurt and that the connections are good.”

However, after a sustained decline in passenger numbers across the sector in 2008 and much of 2009, Lufthansa’s Manchester passenger numbers have seen positive growth every month since October.

Passenger numbers grew 4.8% in January 2010, and 2% in February – when the airline suffered a strike by its airline pilots.

Ms Sammann said: “Considering the weather disruption that’s fantastic and those figures include the strike effects. Out of Manchester we were able to maintain most flights though.

“Of course we lost passengers and without the weather and disruption growth figures might have been 6/7% otherwise.”

She added that at 63%, Manchester has the highest proportion of passengers who use the airline to connect onwards from Germany, compared to the UK average of 44%.

Lufthansa operates 87 flights a week from the airport, Frankfurt Munich, Dusseldorf and Hamburg. This will rise to 92 flights with the introduction of Stuttgart in April.

Ms Sammann said: “Manchester is our second strongest airport out of London so it was the next logical step to increase the number of destinations. At the moment Stuttgart is only serviced out of London.

“We’ll try the route in the summer and see whether it’s one to keep going as a year round destination.”