Lufthansa did not pay a 2009 dividend -- the first time it has not given its shareholders a payout since 2003 -- after posting a net loss of 148 million euros ($197 million) for the year.
It has since started a cost cutting programme targeting its passenger airlines and cargo division, and Mayrhuber said this would help the company pay a dividend this year.
"That (paying a full-year dividend) should work with the measures that we've implemented for 2010," Chief Executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber said at the German flagship carrier's annual general meeting.
Analysts on average expect Lufthansa to pay a 2010 dividend of 0.06 euros, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S estimates.
Lufthansa still aims to improve its 2010 group operating profit from last year's 130 million euros and targets profit in its cargo division, Mayhuber said.
He said demand for flights and cargo services was growing as the first signs of a global economic recovery have encouraged consumers and businesses to start spending more again.
"The outlook is better than it was a few weeks ago," he said, adding that, in particular, demand for intercontinental flights and cargo services had improved in the first quarter.
Airlines suffered their worst year in decades in 2009 as demand dropped amid the global economic crisis, but industry group International Air Transport Association demand had accelerated in March.
Lufthansa is due to publish its first-quarter results on May 5. It expects recently acquired British carrier bmi and Austrian Airlines to continue weighing on its earnings this year.
The company became the most recent major European carrier to comment on the impact of the volcanic ash cloud that recently swept across Europe, saying its costs from the incident were just under 200 million euros.
British Airways has said the volcano crisis cost it 15 million to 20 million pounds per day and Air France-KLM put its costs at 35 million euros a day. (Reuters)
