FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The return of the travel bug and expensive tickets gave Lufthansa the second-best quarter in its history in the summer. In the months from July to September, operating profit (adjusted Ebit) was almost 1.5 billion euros, almost a third higher than a year earlier, the MDax-listed group reported in Frankfurt on Thursday. Lufthansa had only earned more in day-to-day operations around the Air Berlin bankruptcy in the third quarter of 2017. The average revenue per ticket this time was higher than ever before. Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr thus sees Lufthansa on track to achieve an operating profit of at least 2.6 billion euros this year, as planned.

The second and third quarters of 2023 together actually brought the Group more profit in day-to-day business this time than ever before. Spohr therefore spoke of a "record summer". At the same time, the Group's flight capacity is still lower than in the period before the Corona pandemic: In the third quarter, the seat capacity offered was 88 percent of the 2019 level. For the full year, the Executive Board is still targeting 85 percent. And in 2024, the target is around 95 percent./stw/mis