Lufthansa, the German flag carrier, said on Thursday that it expected to report an increase in operating profits to about €550m for 2005, a 44 per cent rise from a year earlier, as it reaped the gains of strong economic growth in Asia and the Middle East and Africa.

The group surprised financial analysts in November by issuing a much more cautious earnings forecast for operating profits only to rise “significantly above €400m” in 2005 from the €383m reported in 2004.