Lufthansa had to be saved from the corona consequences with billions in aid.
Now the airline has repaid the direct aid from German taxpayers.
However, the group is not yet completely independent.
Frankfurt / Main - Lufthansa has repaid the German state's silent participations in full.
The company announced on Friday in Frankfurt.
There is still a direct stake in the state economic stabilization fund of 14 percent of the share capital.
During the Corona crisis, Lufthansa negotiated a state rescue package worth a total of nine billion euros with the federal government and the EU Commission - three billion euros as a loan from the state development bank KfW and six billion euros from the Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF).
Lufthansa: First repayments made in February
The group claimed around 3.8 billion euros.
This includes around 306 million euros with which the WSF built up its stake in the company.
These shares are to be sold by October 2023 at the latest, the federal government confirmed on Friday.
The group had already redeemed a loan from the state development bank KfW in the amount of one billion euros early in February.
In October he paid the WSF 1.5 billion euros, now another billion.
The repayments made possible above all "the increasing demand for air travel, the rapid restructuring and transformation" as well as "the trust of the capital markets in the company", announced Lufthansa on Friday.
The group has issued several bonds since November 2020, borrowing money from investors.
In October, the airline also issued new shares and collected almost 2.2 billion euros.
Lufthansa: Aid money saved 100,000 jobs
Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr said on Friday that he thanked the federal government and taxpayers on behalf of all employees.
“In the worst financial crisis in our company's history, they gave us prospects for the future.
As a result, we were able to keep more than 100,000 jobs. "
The repayment of all state aid paid in the Corona crisis is 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.
Lufthansa has also received aid from Austria, Switzerland and Belgium, which according to its own information has not yet been repaid.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) praised the quick repayment and referred to the effectiveness of state aid to secure the company and many jobs.
Scholz explained: "And it was good business for the state treasury - because it looks like the state will make a plus at the end of its commitment."
(Dpa / AFP)