Frankfurt
Lufthansa LHAG.E will seek to avoid a grounding and insolvency, Chief Executive Carsten Spohr said on Sunday, before a showdown between the airline’s biggest shareholder and the German government over the terms of a 9-billion-euro bailout. Lufthansa has been hard hit by what is expected to be a protracted travel slump because of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing it to seek a bailout. Billionaire shareholder Heinz Hermann Thiele will meet the economics minister on Monday to discuss his objections to the state-backed bailout, a source close to the matter told Reuters. As an alternative to the government taking a direct stake in Lufthansa, Thiele has proposed an indirect participation through state-owned German development bank KfW. In a letter to employees, Spohr said the airline was in intense talks with the government and large shareholders.—Reuters
