The German airline group reported adjusted earnings before interest and tax (ebit) of €25 million against a loss of €53 million for the same period in 2016.
It marked the first time since 2008 that the Frankfurt-based group had made a profit in the first three months of the year.
Total revenue for the group rose by 11.2% to €7.7 billion although earnings dipped for its carriers Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines, while Swiss saw an improvement as it retained its position as the group’s highest margin carrier.
Passenger traffic increased 13% and cargo sales were up 8.3%.
Lufthansa said around five percentage points of its passenger traffic increase reflected the incorporation of revenue from Brussels Airlines - which it acquired in December last year.
The group added that it expects annual profits to dip slightly from last year’s €1.75 billion.
Ulrik Svensson, chief financial officer said: “For a period that is traditionally difficult for the airline industry, we have posted our first positive earnings result since 2008.
“This is mainly attributable to favourable trends at Lufthansa Cargo and strong growth at Lufthansa Technik. This demonstrates the strength of our broad setup as aviation group.”
Svensson added: “At our airlines we are seeing positive developments in the pricing environment and significantly higher traffic revenues.
“At the same time, however, we cannot be satisfied with the cost development of our airlines. So we will continue to keep a clear and consistent focus on cost.
“Our positive earnings development in the first quarter was boosted by non-operating results. It is important that even without these, we would still have reported an improved first-quarter result.
“Despite our strong first-quarter results and the good forward bookings at our airlines, our full year guidance for 2017 remains unchanged.
“At our airlines, we do not yet have a sufficient visibility on the bookings in the important third quarter.”
