Lufthansa

German airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG reported a first-quarter loss of €397 million ($521.3 million) on Wednesday, blaming high prices for fuel and other expenses.

In the same period last year the airline reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of €507 million.
Lufthansa's operating loss widened to €381 million, from a year-ago loss of €169 million, despite a 5.6 percent rise in revenue to €6.6 billion.
"The additional revenue could however not offset the cost increases, in particular for fuel," the airline said in a statement released ahead of its full earning.
The International Air Transport Association said Wednesday that with oil prices remaining stubbornly above $100 a barrel over the past year, the airline industry is suffering.
"Jet fuel prices have risen 8 percent since January. Considering that fuel now accounts for 34 percent of average operating costs, it's an increase that hurts," said IATA's chief executive Tony Tyler.

SAS under loss

Scandinavian airline SAS posted a first-quarter loss that was more than twice analyst forecasts, hurt by a weak economic environment and rocketing jet fuel prices.
SAS has been struggling for years with higher costs than no-frills competitors like Ryanair and Norwegian Air Shuttle.
The airline, half-owned by Sweden, Norway and Denmark, made a pretax loss of 1.1 billion Swedish crowns ($163 million) against a Reuters poll forecast loss of 514 million and compared with a 558 million crown loss in the year-ago period.
"The negative trend was due to sharp increases in jet-fuel prices, the uncertain economic climate and the fact that the earnings effects of the 4Excellence program will not be generated until the latter part of 2012," Chief Executive Rickard Gustafson said in a statement on Thursday.
The first quarter also tends to be seasonally weak for airlines.
Surging jet fuel costs and the bankruptcy of Spanair, in which SAS has a stake, have added to the airline's woes and it made a loss of 1.6 billion Swedish crowns ($238 million) last year.
With Europe's economy weighed down by the debt crisis and austerity measures, turning a profit this year will be challenging.
"2012 is difficult to assess due to the uncertain business climate, continued intense competition and high fuel prices," Gustafson said.
The group, in the middle of a 5 billion crown savings programme, predicted passenger growth of 5 to 7 percent and said it expected continued pressure on its yield this year.
Its cost savings programme should start generating effects in the second half of the year while cash flow should also strengthen in the second quarter following a deal to sell six properties at airports in Sweden.
($1 = 6.7475 Swedish crowns)

Why are Indian airlines in the red despite rising passenger traffic

The huge losses are because of high taxes on fuel and rising operational costs. Moreover, cutthroat competition in the sector prevents airlines from raising ticket prices.

Taxes constitute 40% of an airline's total expenditure, far above the global average of 32%. Besides, revenues barely cover operational costs.

For instance, operating margin for Kingfisher stands at 0.12 while it is negative for Jet Airways (-8 .25%) and Spice Jet (-6 .7%).