Johannes Braun

Johannes Braun questioned the slight downgrade in the full-year RASK guidance to a mid-single-digit decline, noting it seemed counterintuitive given stabilizing yields and reduced capacity growth.

Answer

CFO Till Streichert explained that the guidance reflects a difficult year-over-year comparison for the fourth quarter. He pointed out that in the prior year's Q4, 'other income' was inflated by one-off items like the release of COVID-related provisions and OEM compensations, which makes the RASK comparison for the upcoming Q4 appear weaker than the underlying yield trend suggests.

Johannes Braun of Stifel questioned the rationale for downgrading the full-year RASK guidance to a mid-single-digit decline, noting it seemed counterintuitive given stabilizing yields and slower capacity growth.

Answer

CFO Till Streichert explained that the year-over-year comparison for Q4 is skewed because the prior-year period (Q4 2023) included significant one-off other income items, such as releases of COVID-related provisions. This inflated the prior-year base, making the RASK decline in Q4 2024 appear larger than the underlying yield trend would suggest. CEO Carsten Spohr confirmed that yield development will be better than RASK development in Q4.

Johannes Braun of Stifel noted the strong Q1 free cash flow and high cash inflow from ticket prepayments, asking how this reconciles with the warning of significantly lower summer yields.

Answer

CFO Neil Sorahan explained that the strong cash flow is a direct result of high traffic volume growth. Even with lower average fares, the sheer number of bookings being processed—over half a million more—ensures a strong and steady inflow of cash from customers.

Johannes Braun from Stifel asked for background on the €610 million pension funding payment in Q1 and inquired about yield trends for the peak summer season, particularly in light of the Olympic Games.

Answer

CFO Steven Zaat clarified that the €610 million payment was a one-off settlement of pension premiums deferred during the COVID crisis. He noted that while April yields were strong, it was too early to comment on Q3 yields due to the short booking window for the summer season.