MOSCOW, January 12 (Sputnik) – German airline Lufthansa announced on Monday that its fuel bill for 2015 could drop by 900 million euros ($1.1 billion) compared to 2014, boosting the company’s underlying profit, Reuters reported.
Having already dropped by an estimated 400 million euros ($470 million) in 2014, fuel costs are expected to drop by a further 900 million to a total of 5.8 billion euros ($6.8 billion), the company announced in its annual presentation for investors. As a result, the company’s stock rose by 3.6 percent to 14.57 euros, Bloomberg reported.
Brent crude oil hit a low of $48.59 at the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday.
The company’s expected fuel bill for the year was estimated using an estimated Brent crude oil price of $68 per barrel, according to Reuters.
The drop in the fuel price is expected to be the main driver of the increase in operating profit for the company, which is expected to be “significantly above previous year,” according to the presentation.
Although airlines generally use falling oil prices to offer more flights, Lufthansa instead plans to use the decrease in the cost of fuel to lower ticket prices and fill more seats on existing flights, increasing its market share against low-cost carriers that way, Reuters reported.
Lufthansa also announced last month in a press release that it plans to launch a new low-cost long-haul airline, Eurowings, which will begin operating in late 2015.
