Lufthansa Group has reported higher demand for its long-haul services through March as competition from carriers reliant on Middle Eastern transfers was curtailed by the Iran war. First-quarter load factors rose 3.6 percentage points to 81.9%. Unit revenue was up by 3.3%, driven by what Lufthansa terms a "strong surge in demand" following capacity reductions by Gulf competitors. Lufthansa has responded to the conflict by increasing capacity to some destinations in Asia, notably India. Group chief executive Carsten Spohr noted in March that extra flights to the region had been "filled within days". The effect of this has "significantly overcompensated" for the loss of earnings from suspension of several Middle Eastern routes, says Lufthansa. In March, revenue per ASK was up 12% year on year, and the group is maintaining its guidance that full-year adjusted EBIT will be "significantly above" 2025's. Cargo yield was 5% higher in March as freight rates increased on the back of wider capacity reductions. Alongside long-haul capacity hikes, the group has sought to reduce some of its short-haul flying by axing 20,000 services from its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, action intended to save 40,000 tonnes of fuel. Lufthansa has long complained that the high cost of doing business in Germany makes much of its domestic network unviable, and estimates that the cost of operating in the country has broadly doubled since 2019. Notably, alongside its cuts in Germany, the group revealed plans to increase services by subsidiary airlines from Zurich, Vienna and Brussels. Overall, "slight growth in long-haul traffic compensated for minor capacity reductions in short- and medium-haul segments", says the group. Yet it is also warning that the fuel impact of the Middle Eastern situation will add around €1.7 billion ($2 billion) to annual costs, despite its being 78% hedged for the year. Spohr says the group is "resilient in our ability" to handle these expenses, given its hedging programme and its multi-hub strategy "which provides us with greater flexibility in our route network and fleet development". The group believes higher costs can be offset with increased revenue from ticket sales, better network planning and the further implementation of its cost-saving plan, which is particularly focused on its mainline Lufthansa airline. It highlights the dual dynamics of the crisis in the Middle East, which "negatively impacts fuel prices while positively affecting demand in passenger airlines and cargo business”. In the first quarter, revenue rose 8% to €8.7 billion, aiding a €110 million narrowing of its adjusted EBIT loss to €612 million. That compares with a market consensus of a €659 million loss. At 13:36 CET, its stock was up 8% since previous close, and 17% versus a week earlier. Lufthansa’s results in several ways mirror those of European airline-group peer Air France-KLM, which on 4 May revealed a better-than-expected set of first-quarter results on the back of higher Asian demand, albeit with an outlook tempered by the forthcoming impact of higher fuel prices. Like its German rival, Air France-KLM has pared back some of its planned capacity for the summer and hiked fares, while doubling down on select long-haul routes where earnings have been strong. "The question mark comes more what will happen in the winter, and I think nobody knows yet what will happen in the winter," said Air France-KLM finance chief Steven Zaat, noting that Air France-KLM would look to pull back capacity levels if fuel prices did not fall.

India's government has created a Rs50 billion ($527 million) pool of credit support for airlines facing financial challenges due to the Iran conflict. A 5 May statement says that the country's Cabinet approved the funding as part of the broader Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme, which will guarantee around 90% coverage for defaults from eligible airline borrowers "to tide over any short-term liquidity mismatches in view of [the] West Asia Crisis." The guarantee will be capped at Rs15 billion per borrower, subject to conditions, running for seven years from the date of disbursement, and with a moratorium of two years. The Iran conflict, which has been ongoing since 28 February, has affected most Indian carriers, which historically have operated large amounts of capacity to the Middle East, often catering to the large expatriate travel market there. The guarantees come after Indian ratings agency ICRA warned in late March that there was "financial stress among select airlines" in the country. While it did not identify which carriers were under stress, several observers note that SpiceJet appears to be vulnerable, amid reports that it has delayed salary payments to staff this year, despite a September 2024 capital raising from institutional investors that raised Rs30 billion. That allowed it to clear several debts to lessors, MROs and regulatory authorities, and helped to finance repairs on some of its aircraft, but since then it has struggled to meet targets to increase its operational fleet, while it reported a Rs2.7 billion loss in the December quarter.

British Airways has advertised job vacancies for "ground taxi pilots" to reposition aircraft between terminals at Chicago O'Hare airport. The Oneworld carrier's flights arrive at O'Hare's Terminal 5 but depart from the Terminal 3 gates of partner American Airlines. IAG subsidiary BA tells Cirium that its recruitment of locally based pilots to taxi aircraft between the terminals is "nothing new". Departures were transferred to Terminal 3 in 2024. The job advert on BA's website indicated that recruits would "play a critical role in helping achieve on-time performance by safely ground taxiing British Airways Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft" at the US hub. It targeted active or former airline transport pilots with "recent experience" as a 777/787 captain or first officer and a "high degree of familiarity with procedures at Chicago O'Hare". Pilots work in pairs to taxi aircraft between the terminals. "You will operate as pilot in command or second pilot during ground taxi operations at Chicago O’Hare airport," says BA. The job was described in the ad as an "exciting opportunity", with an annual base salary of $90,000-100,000 on offer.