The cost-cutting efforts of German airline Lufthansa has helped it report a 40% rise in first quarter operating profits.

"After the first three months it is already clear that Lufthansa's strategy for managing the crisis and containing costs is paying off," the airline said in a statement.

But the economic slowdown, pilot strikes and the post 11 September slump in passenger numbers meant the airline racked up a loss of 94m euros ($85m; �58.6m) almost double the loss made in the same months a year earlier.

And demand for tickets is not yet back to normal, with traffic revenue falling by 8%.

Despite the red balance sheet, analysts were impressed by the sharp increase in operating profits and Lufthansa's shares were rising on the Frankfurt stock exchange.

"Given the environment, these numbers are very good," said Juergen Pieper, an analyst at Bankhaus Metzler.