Lufthansa beats forecasts, may scrap more jets

Lufthansa is losing less money than expected.

In the fourth quarter the German airline group posted a net loss of 1.38 billion dollars, beating analyst forecasts.

Last year the company secured almost 11 billion dollars in state aid to tide it through the global travel slump.

In 2021 it expects to fly 40-50% of the capacity it had two years earlier.

But it's expecting a swift rebound in travel demand as lockdowns ease.

Even so the money is still flowing out.

In the first quarter Lufthansa expects to burn through about 360 million dollars every month.

The group, which also includes Austrian Airlines, Swiss and other brands, is now thinking about retiring more planes.

Chief Executive Carsten Spohr says he may permanently ground all aircraft older than 25 years.

The company had already outlined plans to shrink its fleet to 650 jets by 2023.

Now it looks like it may emerge from the global health crisis looking even leaner.