Lufthansa loses 1.26 billion euros in third quarter

German airline Lufthansa on Tuesday reported a loss of 1.26 billion euros ($1.49 billion) in the third quarter of 2020 as it struggles to bounce back from crippling coronavirus lockdowns.

The sobering figure is a slight improvement on quarter two’s loss of 1.5 billion euros “due to an expansion of the flight schedule in the summer months of July and August and considerable cost reductions”, the airline said in a statement.

But demand for air travel is expected to remain low in the coming months “due to the global evolution of the pandemic and the associated travel restrictions”, it said.

The group therefore plans to operate at just 25 percent capacity in the fourth quarter compared with the same period last year.