Sawt Falasteen - Lufthansa doubles profit in 2023 as demand booms

The group reported a net profit of 1.67 billion euros ($1.82 billion), compared to 791 million euros in 2022.

It was slightly below an estimate of about 1.8 billion euros by analysts surveyed by financial data firm FactSet.

But it still marks a second straight year of profits for the group -- whose carriers include Lufthansa, Eurowings, Austrian, Swiss and Brussels Airlines -- after two years of losses due to pandemic-related border closures.

Lufthansa hailed the results in a statement and said they were due to "continued high demand for travel and another record result" in its maintenance division.

Like other airline groups, Lufthansa was hit hard when the coronavirus shut down global air travel and it had to be bailed out by the German government in 2020.

But the company -- one of Europe's biggest airline groups -- has rebounded strongly as demand roared back when lockdowns were lifted.

It still faces numerous challenges however, the most pressing of which is a wave of recent strikes as workers push for bumper pay rises to compensate for high inflation.

J.AbuHassan--SF-PST