German flag carrier Lufthansa is to cut working hours - but not overall jobs - in response to "unexpectedly high" losses in the first quarter of this year. The airline says its performance in the three months to 31 March was even worse than in the same period last year. Then, in the aftermath of the 11 September attacks, its revenue and operating profit increased, even though traffic fell 9%. This year the airline has brought back much of the capacity it cut after the attacks, but passengers have failed to follow - load factor fell 2.4% to 70.5%. Full-year results are due to be announced on 14May.
Source: Flight International
