Lufthansa has repaid the German state's silent participations in full. The company announced on Friday in Frankfurt. The outstanding sum of one billion euros from a silent participation had been repaid to the federal economic stabilization fund, Lufthansa announced on Friday. The funds not yet drawn were canceled at the same time. This means that all government loans and silent partnership contributions totaling 3.5 billion euros have been repaid earlier than expected. This was made possible by the increasing demand for flights, the downsizing of the company and the associated return of the confidence of the capital markets in Lufthansa. "On behalf of all Lufthansa employees, I would like to thank the German Federal Government and the German taxpayers",explained Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr.
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. Currently, the state economic stabilization fund still holds a direct share of 14 percent of the share capital.
The Lufthansa Group was saved from bankruptcy in the Corona crisis by Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium with a financial framework of nine billion euros.
She only had to use part of the funds.
Due to the collapse of business in the pandemic, airlines had little opportunity to raise money on the capital market at times.
Lufthansa has been able to tap the bond market again since the end of 2020 and raise funds through a capital increase in October.