The German company reported a net profit of €881 million ($964 million) from April to June, up from €259 million in the same period a year earlier.

It marked a turnaround from a net loss in the first quarter for one of Europe’s biggest airline groups, when demand for flights was lower due to normal seasonality.

The group – whose carriers include Lufthansa, Eurowings, Austrian, Swiss and Brussels Airlines – said revenues rose 17% to €9.38 billion.

The positive results were driven by surging demand for flights as well as a rise in ticket prices.

A total of 33.3 million passengers flew with the group’s airlines in the second quarter. This was several million above the same period a year earlier but still below the figure seen in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic.

For the whole of 2023, Lufthansa now expects earnings before interest and taxes – its preferred measure of profitability – of more than €2.6 billion, one of the best results in its history.

Lufthansa was hit hard by pandemic border closures, and had to be bailed out by the German government, but has since bounced back strongly.