Germany’s flag-carrier airline Lufthansa in ‘intensive negotiations’ for state aid to stay afloat

Lufthansa is eyeing state aid to secure its solvency amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the airline has confirmed in a statement.

The information comes two weeks after CEO Carsten Spohr said the airline was losing €1 million (about $1.08 million) an hour and is facing the “biggest challenge” of its 65-year history.

In March alone, revenues plummeted by over $1.4 billion, it said, adding that cost reductions could only "partially offset" the damage during the quarter.

Lufthansa said it was not currently possible to foresee when the group's airlines would be able to resume flight operations beyond the current repatriation flights.

A "considerably higher operating loss" is therefore expected during the second quarter, it said.

The airline group confirmed it is in "intensive negotiations" with governments in its home countries regarding "various financing instruments" which would "sustainably secure" its solvency "in the near future."

It added that its management board is "confident" that the talks will lead to a successful conclusion.

The Lufthansa Group owns the low-cost Eurowings and Germanwings airlines, as well as Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and SWISS and Edelweiss Airlines.

Germany has weathered the coronavirus storm better than some other European nations in terms of its fatalities – and now, with falling infection rates, lockdown restrictions are set to be eased in the coming weeks. Yet, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Thursday that the country is not “out of the woods” and was still on “thin ice,” requiring citizens to stay vigilant and disciplined.

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