Lufthansa reports a positive first half of 2010 report

Lufthansa, Germany's biggest airline, said passenger traffic was up the first half of 2010, even through they had to struggle through the dreaded ash cloud that grounded many flights in April and caused a worldwide air travel headache.

The airline reported an increase of 1.8 percent from year-over-year as it carried roughly 27.2 million travelers between January and June. The numbers for June between 2009 and 2010 were up an impressive 11.6 percent.  Lufthansa's seat load factor also increased by 2.7 percent to 77.8 percent. 

Lufthansa's sister companies Swiss International Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Britain's BMI all saw more customers this year so far with almost 41.8 million passengers flying in the first six months, up more than a quarter from one year earlier. 

Although Lufthansa was able to make it through the ash cloud incident with a great six month report, the carrier did suffer financially from the natural disaster. What's more, Lufthansa also lost an estimated $60.7 million due to a one-day strike last February.  

Source: Business Week