Time is running out on an aid package Germany has offered Deutsche Lufthansa in which both sides are now thinking about paring down the €9bn ticket price. The deal would have seen the German state take a 20 percent shareholding in the country’s flagship airline, something that does not seem to be sitting well with its shareholders, who are due to vote on the deal on June 25. The largest of the Lufthansa’s shareholders Heinz-Hermann Thiele, who has criticized the deal and refused to commit to voting for it, revealed that he had just increased in holding in the company to 15 percent. Complicating matters is the fact that Lufthansa is also negotiating aid packages with Austria and Switzerland to save its subsidiaries Austrian Airlines and Swiss. The Austrian government has won a concession from Lufthansa that it will continue to develop its business at the Vienna airport, something which threatens growth opportunities for German airports like Munich and Frankfurt. Travel restrictions and fears of infection from Covid-19 could even play a role in the fateful shareholders meeting next week. If less than 50 percent of shareholders attend the meeting, a two-thirds majority will be needed to accept Germany’s aid package. A virtual shareholders meeting held on May 5 was attended by just 33 percent of shareholders.
