At the end of 2020, Lufthansa long-haul flights were practically fully booked.
CEO Spohr speaks in an interview about what workforce and passengers can expect in 2021.
Frankfurt am Main
- positive news for Lufthansa - at a low level: “There was a steep increase in bookings for Christmas and New Year's Eve.
The
long-haul
offer to
South Africa
, Maldives, Mauritius, Barbados, Namibia and Mexico was practically fully booked for this period, ”says Lufthansa CEO Karsten Spohr.
Despite the hard lockdown in Germany, the bookings at Lufthansa were not canceled.
Overall, around 10 percent of the passenger numbers from the comparable period in the previous year were achieved.
Last but not least, there was a quite unexpected run at Munich Airport, as
Merkur.de
* reported.
Between
quick tests before the flight
, cramped space on board, a billion dollar loan from the federal government and the layoff of 29,000 employees, the German airline has to ask itself a few uncomfortable questions before the turn of the year.
In an interview with the newspaper
Welt
, Spohr gave answers to some of them.
So friends of the government.
The financial undersupply of the clinics during the pandemic threatens to lead to a lack of salary payments for those who are currently saving your ass in the next few weeks.
Come on, now you can do the health sector with Lufthansa.
- Emergency doc (@Dr_Emergencydoc) December 29, 2020
The last time Lufthansa came under fire because shortly before Christmas it became known that the short-time work allowance of pilots would be increased by up to 15,000 euros per month.
In particular, the news that hospital salaries may no longer be paid in early 2021 made some taxpayers angry.
Lufthansa 2021: That is what passengers can expect
How should the safety of passengers be guaranteed in the next year?
When it is hardly possible to adhere to distance rules on board?
This is one of the most pressing questions that must be answered in order to revive business.
"In
intercontinental
traffic,
we anticipate three phases: First, the number of routes with mandatory
quick tests will
increase and in many cases will
make it possible to
resume
air traffic
";
said Spohr.
“In the second phase, there will likely be an option between testing or proof of vaccination.
Eventually, hopefully, we will eventually achieve sufficient
immunity among
the world's population.
This would also make the vaccination certificate superfluous. "
So far, there have been cases of infected patients on board, but no proof of infection during the flight, according to the CEO.
Lufthansa 2021: This is how the group wants to position itself towards the federal government and its employees
The federal government supported
Lufthansa
with nine billion euros
in the
pandemic year * 2020
.
The state currently has a 20 percent stake in Lufthansa, and they want to get out again by 2023.
"I think it is likely that we will find a buyer for the federal portion in due course," says Spohr about a possible exit scenario.
The loan could only be repaid with a smaller and at the same time
more modern Lufthansa
.
Currently, thanks to savings, it was only necessary to call up three of the promised nine billion.
Nevertheless, the return of air traffic has been overestimated.
“At the same time, we underestimated how quickly we can reduce costs.
This year we lost two thirds of our sales, but were able to cut costs by half.
Therefore, the liquidity is higher than expected. ”For the employees, this means that no further
jobs
should be cut - at least until March 2023. Nevertheless, many would have to be prepared to work less.
The CEO calls this "intelligent part-time models". (
Kat
)
