BERLIN— The
German government said Monday it will sell part of the 20 percent stake it took
last year in Lufthansa to prop up the airline group during the coronavirus
pandemic.
اضافة اعلان
The Economic
Stabilization Fund (WSF) that holds the shares in Germany's flagship carrier
"is selling a limited part of its stake," it said in a statement.
Berlin will reduce its
ownership by a maximum of five percent "over several weeks", the WSF
said.
The Lufthansa group,
which also includes Austrian, Swiss, and Brussels Airlines, was saved from
bankruptcy last June by a German government bailout.
The government took a
20-percent stake in the group as part of a 9-billion-euro state aid package.
But the help was seen
as a temporary fix and Berlin will now begin to sell its shares due to the
recent "positive of the company" and "the initial success of the
forward-looking measures", the WSF said.
Lufthansa halved its
losses in the second quarter of 2021 compared to a year ago, as travel
restrictions eased over the coronavirus pandemic and passengers returned.
Increased bookings saw
the group record a positive cash flow for the first time since the start of the
health crisis and it is expecting a return to profit later this year.
The company is also in
the throes of a painful restructuring to slash costs that will include
thousands of job cuts, with 30,000 already axed since the start of the
pandemic.
As part of the recovery
plan, the airline will reduce its current fleet of 800 aircraft to 650 by 2023.
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