Frankfurt (dpa) - Lufthansa will not be able to overcome the coronavirus crisis on its own and is talking to governments about its financial predicament, the German airline said on Thursday.
The carrier reported an operating loss of 1.2 billion euros (1.3 billion dollars) for the first quarter of 2020 and expects worse figures for the second quarter.
The airline said it did not know when its planes can fly again with travel restrictions in place across the globe to try to contain the virus.
Lufthansa has a total of 4.4 billion euros in liquid funds following renewed borrowing, but these will decline significantly in the "next few weeks," the company said, adding: "The group does not expect to be able to cover the capital requirements arising with further borrowing on the market."
The airline had therefore entered into "intensive negotiations" with the governments of its units' home countries: Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium.
The talks are discussing various financing instruments to maintain solvency in the short term, Lufthansa added.
In addition to guarantees, loans and silent partnerships, direct government involvement is also being discussed - within the boundaries of EU rules on state aid.
Lufthansa's board said it was confident of reaching a successful conclusion.
Europe's largest airline group lost almost 1.4 billion euros in turnover in March alone, according to a mandatory announcement on the stock exchange.
In the quarter as a whole, revenues of 6.4 billion euros were correspondingly down on the previous year's figure of 7.8 billion euros.
———
©2020 Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany)
Visit Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) at www.dpa.de/English.82.0.html
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
