In 2022, despite difficult years due to the coronavirus pandemic, the German airline, Lufthansa Group generated over 35 billion U.S. dollars in revenue. In that same year, Air France – KLM followed the Lufthansa Group with approximately 28.3 billion U.S. dollars.
Lufthansa Group's performance during the coronavirus pandemic
Lufthansa Group was founded in 1953. It is the flag carrier and the largest German. The group owns Lufthansa German Airlines, Eurowings, SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa Cargo with a total group fleet consisting of 710 aircraft at the end of 2022. The number of passengers transported by Lufthansa Group went up from 36.4 million passengers in 2020 to 101.8 million passengers in 2022. Consequently, the revenue of Lufthansa Group also went up from 13.6 billion euros in 2020 to 32.8 billion euros in 2022. Lufthansa Group reported an operating proft, which amounted to around 1.2 billion euros in 2022, the first recorded profit after the coronavirus pandemic.
The European aviation industry was hit hard by the pandemic
Until the coronavirus pandemic hit, the European aviation industry was flourishing, carrying and connecting millions of passengers throughout the region every year. In addition to Lufthansa, other leading airline groups in Europe like Air France – KLM, International Airlines Group, Turkish Airlines, Ryanair, and so on were also impacted by the pandemic. Passenger capacity and traffic of Europe-based commercial airlines dramatically dropped in 2020. Therefore, commercial airlines in Europe reported net losses of 34.5 billion U.S. dollars in that year. However, the European aviation industry has been on its recovery path since the last months of 2020. Concerning the environmental footprint of the aviation industry, due to differences in fleet structure, fuel efficiency and cutting-edge maintenance of aircraft each airline emit a varying level of pollutants into the atmosphere. Ranking European airlines by carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, Ryanair was the least environmental polluting airline in Europe, with 66 grams CO2 per passenger-kilometer as of 2021.
Selected major airline groups in Europe in 2022, based on revenue (in billion U.S. dollars)*
* Values are for the fiscal year ending December 2022, excluding Ryanair and Wizz Air (fiscal year ends March 2022), SAS Group (fiscal year ends October 2022), EasyJet (fiscal year ends September 2022), and Jet2 (fiscal year ends March 2022). Figures have been converted to U.S. dollars at the currency rate at fiscal year end and have been rounded.
Data has been compiled by Statista using the following sources:
Figure for Lufthansa can be accessed on here.
Figure for Air France-KLM can be accessed here.
Figure for Turkish Airlines can be accessed here.
Figure for Jet2.com can be accessed here.
Figure for easyJet can be accessed here.
Figure for SAS Group can be accessed here.
Figure for Ryanair can be accessed here.
Figure for Norwegian can be accessed here.
Figure for Finnair can be accessed here.
Figure for Wizz Air can be accessed here.
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Statista. (July 31, 2023). Selected major airline groups in Europe in 2022, based on revenue (in billion U.S. dollars)* [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved October 15, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/201067/europes-25-largest-airline-groups-based-on-revenue/
Statista. "Selected major airline groups in Europe in 2022, based on revenue (in billion U.S. dollars)*." Chart. July 31, 2023. Statista. Accessed October 15, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/201067/europes-25-largest-airline-groups-based-on-revenue/
Statista. (2023). Selected major airline groups in Europe in 2022, based on revenue (in billion U.S. dollars)*. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: October 15, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/201067/europes-25-largest-airline-groups-based-on-revenue/
Statista. "Selected Major Airline Groups in Europe in 2022, Based on Revenue (in Billion U.S. Dollars)*." Statista, Statista Inc., 31 Jul 2023, https://www.statista.com/statistics/201067/europes-25-largest-airline-groups-based-on-revenue/
Statista, Selected major airline groups in Europe in 2022, based on revenue (in billion U.S. dollars)* Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/201067/europes-25-largest-airline-groups-based-on-revenue/ (last visited October 15, 2024)
Selected major airline groups in Europe in 2022, based on revenue (in billion U.S. dollars)* [Graph], Statista, July 31, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/201067/europes-25-largest-airline-groups-based-on-revenue/