European Commission Approves Germany's Bailout of About $6.7Bln for Lufthansa Airline

BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th June, 2020) The European Commission on Thursday allowed Berlin to allocate approximately 6 billion Euros ($6.7 billion) for the recapitalization of Germany's flag carrier, Lufthansa, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The European Commission has approved German plans to contribute ��6 billion to the recapitalization of Deutsche Lufthansa AG (DLH), the parent company of Lufthansa Group. The measure was approved under the State aid Temporary Framework adopted by the Commission on 19 March 2020, as amended on 3 April and 8 May 2020," the commission said in a statement.

This is good news for the German airline, which just recently reached an agreement on a crisis measures package with the UFO cabin crew union to safeguard the airline's cabin crew jobs.

"We have agreed on four-year protection from lay-offs for all LH cabin crews. The package, of course, also includes cost-cutting steps, mostly via voluntary measures; other parts are clearly defined cuts, which all of us will feel, but which are limited in time and/or linked to economic indicators, such as dividend payments or attainment of profit in LH," the union said in a statement.

As the COVID-19 epidemic has unfolded, many countries have adopted severe restrictions to stop the virus from spreading, undermining their economies in the process and sparking a need for additional measures to facilitate economic restoration.