By The Associated Press

FRANKFURT, Germany - German airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG says net income for the third quarter rose 23 per cent due to the inclusion of new group airlines.

Lufthansa, Europe's biggest airline by sales, said net income for the July-September period rose to C184 million (US$270 million) compared with C149 million in the year-ago quarter. Those results were helped by the first-time inclusion of earnings of Austrian Airlines and British Midlands.

However, for the first nine months of the year, Lufthansa said it lost C32 million as the airline saw falling passenger levels and prices, while the cost of fuel rose.