Luxair-Luxembourg Airlines (Luxembourg) has announced it will resume service to Dublin on March 30, 2014 with four weekly frequencies. The restored route will operate during the summer season with Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) aircraft.

According to the flag carrier, “This decision is part of the new Luxair strategy to serve its customers better, not only with a more attractive fare structure but also by developing its European network according to the demand of both business and leisure travellers. This follows the opening of the new Luxembourg-Copenhagen route as of June 3, already coming up with a very good load factor. This also is in accordance with the enhancing of the London City route (a fifth daily flight is being operated since April 8) and the Milan Malpensa connection (a third daily flight is being operated since September 2012).

A losing year in 2012. Previously the Luxair Group issued its financial statement for 2012:

The aviation sector remains very sensitive to the vagaries of the economy, with increased exposure with regard to traditional regional air transport in Europe. Luxair Luxembourg Airlines’ operating result thus logically experienced a further downturn in 2012, while the tour operator Luxair Tours only just managed to struggle through in a highly competitive environment. As for the freight handling business, the interaction between the state of the economy and goods transport unsurprisingly resulted in a decline in volumes handled by Luxair CARGO. 2012 was therefore a difficult year for Luxair Group and resulted in a loss of 10.5 million EUR ($13.7 million).

Luxair Group

Luxair Luxembourg Airlines’ losses, the deterioration in the profitability of Luxair Tours and Luxair CARGO’s deficit pushed the operating loss to over 18 million EUR in 2012 against only 2 million EUR in 2011. Group revenue increased from 428.6 million EUR in 2011 to 446.7 million EUR in 2012. The net result for the year came out at a loss of 10.5 million EUR in 2012 against a profit of 3.6 million EUR in 2011.

Consolidated results

Luxair S.A. has a 43.4% stake in Cargolux. In 2012, Cargolux has suffered again from weak economic conditions. The handled volumes have decreased by 2% to 645,800 tons. An after-tax loss of $35 million had a negative impact on the financial year (loss of $18 million in 2011), equally affected by a fall of 7.6% in turnover.

By including the subsidiaries, including Cargolux by 43.4%, the consolidated net result of Luxair Group comes
to a loss of 21.2 million EUR in 2012 compared to a gain of 1.4 million EUR in 2011.

Luxair Luxembourg Airlines

2012 was marked by increased competition on Luxair Luxembourg Airlines’ domestic routes, particularly with regard to flights to and from Munich, Geneva, London and Hamburg, as well as connecting traffic via the hubs served by competitors. The rise in the price of oil, + 10% compared with 2011, is another factor which weighed heavily on Luxair’s financial performance.
On a like-for-like basis, Luxair recorded a 7% rise in passengers, which enabled passenger numbers to stabilize despite lower capacity due to a reduction in the number of flights.

Top Copyright Photo: Ole Simon/AirlinersGallery.com. Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) LX-LGA (msn 4159) climbs gracefully from Frankfurt bound for LUX.

Luxair: 

Bottom Copyright Photos: Luxair. The airline invited local children to visit this Boeing 737-800 at the local Luxembourg base. The airline has also added promotional Disney Planes logos to this Boeing 737-8C9 LX-LGU (msn 41047).

Route Map: