FRANKFURT (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe's second-biggest airline, said it probably reached the 2007 operating-profit target and expects passenger traffic to rise this year. The shares rose the most in more than six weeks.

“We expect to grow in line with the market” in 2008, Chief Financial Officer Stephan Gemkow told journalists today in Frankfurt. The outlook for 1.3 billion euros ($1.92 billion) in 2007 operating profit is “unshakeable,” he added. The carrier is scheduled to release earnings for last year on March 13.
Lufthansa has increased traffic by adding destinations and selling cheaper tickets to confront rivals such as Air France-KLM Group, Europe's biggest airline, and discount carrier Air Berlin Plc. The Cologne, Germany-based company said that full-year traffic rose 6.6 percent at the main Lufthansa brand while planes flew an average 77 percent full.
The airline's stock rose 48 cents, or 2.9 percent, to 17.08 euros in German trading in the biggest increase since Nov. 28. The shares have dropped 23 percent over the past year. This gain also followed Societe Generale giving Lufthansa a “buy” recommendation in new coverage of the stock.
Lufthansa plans to increase seating capacity 5 percent on European routes and “a bit more” on intercontinental flights in 2008, Gemkow said. Demand will probably “at least” match capacity, while the load factor, or proportion of seats filled, will be “stable” or increase.
---------------------------‘No time pressure’
The airline is under “no time pressure” to decide on an order for Airbus SAS's 300-seat A350 plane or Boeing Co.'s competing 787 Dreamliner. Lufthansa has been considering buying the A350 or 787 since 2006.
Gemkow added that there is “no new development” regarding the carrier's potential interest in bidding for Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA, Spain's biggest airline. Lufthansa executives have said in the past year that, while the Madrid-based competitor may be an interesting target, the price is too high as other investors weigh offers.
The CFO spoke before an opening ceremony at Frankfurt airport for the first section of a 150-million-euro hangar to house Airbus A380 planes. Lufthansa ordered 15 of the 525 seat aircraft and is scheduled to get its first A380 in mid-2009.