The Association of European Airlines, which represents 35 (mostly major) carriers, came out this week with its report on airline performance, and not surprisingly it said that for most of the industry, passenger numbers were down significantly.
Not so at Germany’s flagship carrier Lufthansa, however. It’s seen passenger numbers increase a modest 4 percent from this time last year, according to the Associated Press, which is reporting on the AEA’s survey.
That means that right now among Europe’s major carriers, Lufthansa is ahead of the pack. British Airways saw passengers drop a hair more than 5 percent from a year ago, while Air France saw numbers hold more or less even.
Which major airlines are doing the worse? Alitalia, Spanair and Icelandair.
Italy’s national carriers, which declared bankruptcy in August, saw 25 percent fewer passengers on board this year than last. Spanair’s passenger numbers dropped 21 percent, and Icelandair’s dropped 12 percent.