The shareholders of Lufthansa have approved a €9 billion rescue plan at a general meeting on Thursday.
The plan provides for the return of at least 20% of the company's capital to the German state for the first time since the company's full privatisation in 1997.
"The decision of our shareholders secures Lufthansa a perspective for a successful future. On behalf of our 138,000 employees, I thank the German Federal Government and the governments of our other home countries for their willingness" to give the airline stability, said Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr.
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Lufthansa is "aware of our responsibility to pay back the up to 9 billion to the taxpayers as quickly as possible," Spohr said.
"The companies of the Lufthansa Group are working flat out to get their business back on track. In the coming weeks, the airlines' flight schedules will be systematically expanded," Lufthansa announced.
"By September, it is intended to include 90 per cent of all originally planned short-haul destinations and 70 per cent of all long-haul destinations in the programme again."
The European Commission, which keeps an eye on competition, announced in the morning that it for its part validated the project, insisting on the conditions accepted in return.
Jason Spinks
The Brussels Times
