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Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr: "Before the general election, you have to write it off"
Photo: SASCHA STEINBACH / EPA
Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr considers repayment of the German state aid for the company before the federal election to be unrealistic.
"Before the general election, you have to write it off," said the head of Germany's largest airline in the International Club of Frankfurt Business Journalists (ICFW).
Now it is a question of whether the step will be successful this year. "We would like to clarify things with the current contact persons," said Spohr. He is counting on the fact that after the election on September 26th it will take some time before a new federal government is in place. That is how long the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) remains in office.
In June, Spohr set the goal of repaying the billions in government aid before the election if possible.
Lufthansa has already repaid a loan from the state bank KfW of one billion euros.
For the repayment of the silent contributions of the economic stabilization fund, however, the group needs a capital increase, as Spohr said.
However, he did not want to comment on their scope or timing.
CFO Remco Steenbergen had recently spoken of well below three to four billion euros.
It was only in the second quarter that Lufthansa had drawn a further 1.5 billion euros from the federal government's second silent contribution.
In total, she had taken state aid amounting to four billion euros.
The money comes from Germany and the neighboring states of Belgium, Austria and Switzerland.
The repayment of all state aid is also a prerequisite for further mergers and acquisitions among Europe's airlines.
Because as long as the companies in the industry are supported by the state, they are prohibited from mergers.
Before the crisis it was clear that there would be further consolidation, said Spohr.
The crisis practically pressed the pause button in this process.
"The moment this government stabilization is paid back, this pause button will switch back to play," said the manager.
"Because we have far too many airlines in Europe." The five largest airlines in the USA together have a market share of around 80 percent, while the largest five in Europe only have 40 percent.
Right to information about the crew's vaccination status is essential
Because of the corona pandemic and the associated international travel restrictions, airlines around the world suddenly lost most of their business in the past year. Many escaped bankruptcy only thanks to billions in government aid. Spohr does not expect the industry to return to its old size until the middle of the decade. "Even I can't tell you today whether it will be 2024 or 2025," said the manager. In the summer, Lufthansa's passenger business had recovered, but was only around 50 percent of the pre-crisis level.
With a view to future entry regulations in other countries, Spohr believes that the airlines' right to information about the vaccination status of their flight crews will sooner or later be indispensable.
The first countries such as Hong Kong were already only allowing vaccinated aircraft crews into the country.
He expects such regulations to catch on internationally.
What he thinks is irrelevant: "If the Americans say that only vaccinated crews come into the country, then the opinion of the Lufthansa boss doesn't matter."
hej / dpa
