"Lufthansa has reimbursed (...) all the funds granted by the Federal Republic of Germany", in a period "much faster than expected," the group said in a statement.
Lufthansa had obtained in 2020 an envelope of 9 billion euros, involving in particular an entry into the capital of Berlin.
The purpose of this rescue plan was to save Lufthansa from bankruptcy, while air traffic was almost stopped by the coronavirus epidemic.
However, the company called only 3.8 billion euros of aid made available in 2020 by Germany.
The group has also benefited from grants or guaranteed loans from other European countries where it has subsidiaries, in Switzerland (1.2 billion euros), Belgium (290 million EUR) and Austria (450 million EUR).
The German state, which still holds 14% of the group's capital, after rising to 20% last year, should now sell all of its shares by "October 2023", added the company.
"This early repayment (...) shows that our instruments have been effective", welcomed in a statement the German Minister of the Economy Peter Altmaier.
Lufthansa had already repaid in February a loan granted by the German public bank KFW in the amount of one billion euros, and direct state aid of 1.5 billion euros.
To finance these operations, Lufthansa carried out a capital increase of 2.2 billion euros in October, and in early November raised 1.5 billion euros on the markets.
The group has also benefited from "the increase in demand for air travel", thanks to the reopening of international borders in recent months.
The "rapid restructuring" carried out by Lufthansa also allowed it to free up liquidity, he said.
Lufthansa embarked on a savings plan in 2020 to reduce costs in the face of the crisis, involving a vast reduction in its staff.
The company has since cut more than 30,000 jobs worldwide, out of 140,000, with the aim of saving 3.5 billion euros per year from 2024. Almost 3,000 jobs remain to be cut in Germany, Lufthansa said at the start November.
© 2021 AFP