LUFTHANSA Group entered the current crisis as well-prepared as could be expected from any airline. Its finances were in good shape, and the future had been looking rosy. In 2019 revenues in 2019 had grown by 2.5% to a record €36.4bn. While profitability had been under pressure from increases in fuel prices and intense competition in Vienna, the group still managed to report an operating result of over €2bn and a margin of 5.5%. Within this, the network airlines — Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian 一 achieved respectable margins of nearly 8%, while losses at the point-to-point Eurowings airline subsidiary had been cut by more than a quarter to a mere €-166m. Indeed the restructuring measures the group had put in place for the short haul operation seemed to be starting to work. These measures included simplifying the plethora of AOCs into a single one in Germany; placing long haul ”touristik” routes, and realigning Brussels Airlines into the Network Airlines division; modernising and harmonising the fleet; concentrating on simplicity, improving crew and aircraft productivity. All looked set to allow Eurowings, now Europe's third largest point-to-point airline (behind Ryanair and easyJet) to aim for break-even by 2021 and achieve longterm margin goals of 6% a year.
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