Dubai: Lufthansa posted a rise in passenger numbers in the first six months of 2008. More than 28 million flew with Lufthansa from January through June, an increase of 5.4 per cent on the year-earlier level.

Capacity rose by 5.8 per cent in the same period. Revenue seat-kilometres were up by 5.5 per cent. The seat load factor reached 78.2 per cent (-0.3 per cent).
 
Overall, Lufthansa and SWISS jointly carried close to 35 million passengers in the first half-year, which is about 29 per cent more than in the comparable period of the previous year.

Of the total, more than six million flew with SWISS. The number of flights rose by 22.5 per cent to a total of 413,218.
 
Lufthansa Cargo transported around 869,000 tonnes of freight and mail, which is 0.9 per cent fewer than in the first half last time round. The cargo load factor fell by 0.3 percentage points to 68.2 per cent.