German airline Lufthansa has announced the worst quarterly results in its 67-year history, but according to analysts, a return to flying won't mean an immediate return to profits. 

Aviation expert Lewis Harper, managing editor of Airline Business for Flightglobal, said a change in culture and working practices might be very bad news for all airlines that rely on business travel.

"People have got more used to using online methods of communication and, at the same time, businesses are thinking about the risks of sending employees, particularly on long-haul flights abroad," he explained. 

"There's a cultural change going on in businesses that will affect that corporate demand. Confidence, in general, is absolutely critical for airlines."

Lufthansa, which also owns four other airlines in Europe, revealed on Thursday that passenger numbers had dropped 96 percent because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Although the financial results did not come as a surprise to aviation experts, the scale of this crisis is staggering.

A near-total shutdown of the industry meant record losses. Between April and June, the German airline suffered from an adjusted operating loss of 1.7 billion euros ($2 billion).

With a 9 billion euro state bailout to pay back, and a market still in crisis, Lufthansa has unveiled a restructuring program - in which 22,000 full-time jobs could go.

Uncertainty about the future is set to make the next few years very difficult.

Lufthansa is aiming to make the company more efficient going forward.

But that is no easy task. It means maintaining the number of seats available to passengers, but with fewer aircraft. 

The airline has also warned that no amount of company restructuring will create a sustainable future and that is only possible when the general public feels confident to fly again.

The prediction is that passenger numbers will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024.