Company Watch - Lufthansa.

Edited by Aram Gesar, [e-mail] For more global news, data, analysis and features, please go to: http://www.AirGuideOnline.com/professional.htm Sep 18, 2006

Lufthansa has agreed to pay $85m to settle US class-action lawsuits stemming from alleged cargo price-fixing and has received conditional immunity from antitrust investigators. Lufthansa also said it had applied for leniency to the US Department of Justice, the European Union Commission and other authorities and had received conditional immunity from all of them, reducing the risk of further penalties. Lufthansa had said in February it would cooperate with a probe being carried out by US and European officials into possible price-fixing of freight shipments by passenger and cargo airlines. American Airlines and United Airlines have both confirmed they received inquiries as part of the probe and have agreed to settle lawsuits, without paying out to plaintiffs. SAS revealed it had been raided by the European Commission, while British Airways, Air France/KLM and freight airline Cargolux said they had also been questioned. http://www.lufthansa.com Sep 17, 2006

Flying Lufthansa from Philadelphia to Frankfurt? You'll be checking in from a different terminal now. Used to be, flyers checked in at Terminal A-East. Now, it's A-West. The move makes it easier to go from check-in to gate. While check-in was in A-East, the gate was located over on A-West. You get the picture. The switch also puts Lufthansa near its prime Star Alliance partner at the airport, US Airways. This strategy streamlines Philadelphia's international operations. Earlier this year, Air France also moved from Terminal E to A-West. Sep 16, 2006

Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber was openly upbeat about "open-minded" European Commission regulators whom he said are displaying new sensitivity to the industry's problems and a willingness to consult with stakeholders. Regarding the mishmash of security regulations introduced by various authorities and airports following last month's terrorist scare, Mayrhuber said the industry needs a "practical approach," although he acknowledged the definition of "practical" was elusive. Labeling a little bit of lipstick and some hand lotion as potentially dangerous items aboard a 5-hr. flight while permitting passengers to take liters of liquid on trains defies commonsense, he noted. He said he believes a transatlantic Open Aviation Area agreement would pave the way for a security accord as well. Sep 13, 2006

Lufthansa yesterday said it agreed to pay $85 million to settle a string of class-action lawsuits filed in the US following the February launch of a multinational probe into alleged price-fixing by airlines carrying cargo. The US Dept. of Justice, the European Commission and regulatory agencies in several Asian countries raided airline offices to investigate alleged collusion and price-fixing in the setting of fuel and security surcharges related to cargo transport. The results of that investigation have not been announced, but more than 30 lawsuits reportedly have been filed in the US naming Lufthansa and other European, US and Asian carriers and seeking damages for anticompetitive practices relating to air cargo pricing. Lufthansa said in a statement that the $85 million settlement, subject to court approval, would release it and Swiss International Air Lines from liability in the pending class action suits. It added that it has "applied for leniency to the US Department of Justice, the EU Commission and other authorities in other countries and received conditional immunity." It did not say how the offer, if approved, would affect the company financially or when it would incur the charge on its balance sheet. LH reported net profit of [euro]183 million ($231.8 million) in the three-month period ended June 30. Sep 12, 2006

Lufthansa flew 10.08 billion RPKs in August, down 0.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.5% to 13.18 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 1.1 points to 76.5%. Sep 12, 2006

Thales and Smiths Aerospace announced that Lufthansa selected the Topflight Flight Management System, a joint product of the two companies, for seven new A340-600s. The airline's decision represents a switch from Honeywell. Sep 14, 2006