LUFTHANSA FLIES 90.2 MILLION PASSENGERS IN 2010

Lufthansa Group, which includes carriers Swiss, BMI and Austrian Airlines, has reported its airlines flew 90.2 million passengers in 2010, a 17.2% increase over 2009. Lufthansa alone flew 58.9 million passengers, a 5.9% gain. The airline group credits the upturn in the air travel in 2010, which enabled it to post healthy figures despite the paralysis of European flights in April due to the Icelandic volcano and snow disruption in December. Lufthansa cancelled more than 4,500 flights last month due to snow, which cost it €65 million euros ($84 million). As a result, European traffic declined in December by half