Lufthansa to resume flights in June
May 24, 2020
Lufthansa on Sunday confirmed that it will resume flights to 20 destinations in mid-June as it tries to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.
The destinations include vacation hotspots Mallorca, Crete, Rhodes, Faro, Venice, Ibiza and Malaga, a Lufthansa spokeswoman said, with further destinations to be announced at the end of next week. All flights will depart from the German airline's main hub in Frankfurt.
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Earlier this month, Lufthansa announced plans to resume flights to destinations including Los Angeles, Toronto and Mumbai.
Lufthansa has grounded 95% of its fleet and has closed its Germanwings budget subsidiary due to travel and border restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus outbreak.
The airline is in"advanced" talks with the German government over a potential €9 billion ($9.8 billion) bailout. The deal would include the German government taking a 20% stake in the airline group, which includes Austrian Airlines, Swiss International, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings, and two seats on the group's supervisory board.
According to Bild am Sonntag, a German tabloid, the loan will have to be repaid by 2023.
The bailout has been held up thus far because of reported disagreements in the German government over what the financial aid package should look like.
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Members of Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right CDU party want to give Lufthansa financial protection without influencing managerial decisions, while the left-leaning Green and Left parties are not fans of forking over cash and not having a say.
Rival airlines such as the Franco-Dutch group Air France-KLM and US carriers American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have also sought state aid.
dv/rc (dpa, Reuters)
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