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Lufthansa swung to an operating profit of EUR36 million euros (USD$49.1 million) in the first quarter after carrying a record number of passengers.

The result compared with a loss of EUR75 million a year ago, Lufthansa said in a statement on Wednesday.

Lufthansa added it had a net profit of EUR554 million in the first three months of the year, compared with a year-earlier net loss of EUR98 million.

The net result was boosted by a EUR499 million gain on the sale of Lufthansa's 50 percent stake in tourism firm Thomas Cook to joint venture partner KarstadtQuelle and EUR36 million from Swiss, which it bought two years ago.

Lufthansa said earlier this month the number of passengers it carried in the first three months of the year rose 8 percent to a record 12.3 million. The proportion of seating capacity used, or passenger load factor, increased 2.6 percentage points.

«In addition to a pleasing course of business, a gain... from the sale of the... stake in Thomas Cook and a... profit of Swiss International Airlines attributable to Lufthansa contributed to the good result,» Lufthansa said on Wednesday.

The carrier said it now expected the full consolidation of Swiss to take place at the beginning of the third quarter. It currently owns 49 percent of Swiss as it waits for remaining air traffic rights to be ironed out.

The carrier said on April 18 it wanted to surpass its target for operating profit of more than EUR1 billion in 2007 already, excluding Swiss. The operating result was EUR845 million last year.

(Reuters)