Coronavirus: German airline Lufthansa saved from bankruptcy

The rescue of the German airline Lufthansa, until the end on the hot seat, is activated. © REUTERS / Michaela Rehle / File Photo

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The rescue of the German airline Lufthansa, until the end on the hot seat, is activated. State support with credits of nine billion euros had been acquired after laborious negotiations. But the group had no choice. He has lost a million euros every hour since the start of the pandemic when he was in good health before the start of the crisis. Without fresh money, the company was threatened while air traffic will take a long time before returning to its level of a few months ago.

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From our correspondent in Berlin, Pascal Thibaut

"  We have no more money. Without state support, we will have to file for bankruptcy within a few days  ": the chairman of the Lufthansa supervisory board did not seek to embellish the situation to convince shareholders to support the airline's rescue plan .

The most important of them, the businessman Heinz Thiele who holds 15.5% of the capital, had threatened not to approve the support of the State, nine billion euros and a stake of 20 %. The billionaire feared that the authorities would not accept measures radical enough to redress Lufthansa. Finally, the main shareholder changed his mind and the general meeting voted the rescue plan at 98%.

The last step is therefore taken. Thursday morning, the European Commission validated the project. On Wednesday evening, an agreement was reached between the management of Lufthansa and the unions on freezes of remuneration, early retirement and periods of layoff. 22,000 jobs out of the 138,000 in the group must disappear. Its fleet will be reduced and slots for flights to Frankfurt and Munich will be sold to the competition.

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  • Germany
  • Aeronautics
  • Coronavirus

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