Lufthansa rejects Belgian state aid for Brussels Airlines – report (translated) | (La Libre Belgique)
German airline Lufthansa has refused a proposal from the government of Belgium to inject state aid into its subsidiary Brussels Airlines, La Libre Belgique reported on 12 May, citing unnamed sources.
According to the French-language item, there have been very intense negotiations to draft a bailout plan for Brussels Airlines by the Belgian authorities in the last days.
Lufthansa had requested EUR 390m from the Belgian state, while the entity managing the Belgian government’s interventions in the economy, the Société Fédérale de Participations et d'Investissement (SFPI), proposed financial support subject to conditions, the article said.
The planned state aid would have resulted in the government taking an equity stake in Brussels Airlines of up to 25% plus one share, which would have granted Belgium a blocking minority in the carrier, the report noted.
The Belgian authorities also wanted to obtain right of review of the airline’s multi-annual redeployment plan, the news item added.
But Lufthansa told the SFPI on Monday evening that it rejected the Belgian aid, together with the conditions, the article said. Brussels Airlines’ announced on Tuesday it was planning to cut 1,000 jobs, according to the report.
The Brussels Times reported today (13 May), that the Belgian Minister of Finance Alexander De Croo will hold a meeting with Carsten Spohr, the Lufthansa CEO on Friday to discuss a solution to the Brussels Airlines’ redundancies.
