Lufthansa said on Monday that it had repaid 1.5 billion euros in advance of public aid distributed in 2020 by the German state to avoid bankruptcy, after a recent capital raising of 2.2 billion euros.
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The German airline still plans to repay a billion by the end of 2021, while the German state, which has just sold part of its shares, remains a 14% shareholder in the company. Lufthansa had obtained an envelope of 9 billion euros, including entry to the capital of Berlin, for its rescue plan supposed to help it get through the difficult period of air traffic almost stopped by the coronavirus epidemic. However, the company did not use all this aid and had already repaid a public credit of one billion euros in February.
“We are very grateful that Lufthansa was able to be saved with taxpayer money during these difficult times. This has saved over 100,000 jobs and secured them for the future, ”
Group CEO Carsten Spohr said in a statement.
“Today, we are keeping our promise and repaying a large part of public aid sooner than expected.
We are more and more confident in the future as more and more countries open their borders, ”
he added.
Limited losses in 2021
The group, which also includes the companies Austrian, Swiss and Brussels Airlines, was saved from bankruptcy in June 2020 by the German government.
With the easing of restrictions on travel and return of passengers, it posted a net loss of 756 million euros in the second quarter of 2021, half less than the 1.5 billion euros in the same period of 2020 , when flights were interrupted around the world due to Covid-19.
However, the company is leading a harsh layoff campaign aimed at cutting costs, which plans to cut thousands of jobs, 30,000 having already been so since the start of the pandemic.
