Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International) has announced it repaid “much earlier than originally planned” the last of its EUR9 billion euro (USD10.3 billion) bailout, so that the German government will now look to sell its stake in the group - currently amounting to around 14% - by October 2023 at the latest.

Of this EUR9 billion, the company had drawn down around EUR3.8 billion (USD4.35 billion) in total. The final EUR1 billion (USD1.15 billion) chunk of these “silent participation” loans, including interest, was paid back on November 12, funds that had been extended last year through the government’s Covid-specific Economic Stabilisation Fund (WSF). The company opted to cancel the unused part of the aid package, Lufthansa explained in a statement.

Returning the funds “was made possible primarily by the rising demand for air travel, the fast restructuring and transformation of Lufthansa Group, and the capital markets' confidence in the company,” it said.

In October, Lufthansa completed a EUR2.162 billion (USD2.48 billion) capital increase, deploying EUR1.5 billion (USD1.72 billion) of it to eliminate the Silent Participation I part of the funding. Its latest step towards a return to normal came after revealing last week that it had raised another EUR1.5 billion in its third bond sale this year, which it said “will further contribute to the full repayment of the government stabilisation measures in Germany.”

“On behalf of all Lufthansa employees, I would like to thank the German government and the German taxpayers. In the most serious financial crisis in our company’s history, they have given us a perspective for the future. This has enabled us to save more than 100,000 jobs,” Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr commented.

However, he added that “many challenges remain” and “we will consistently continue the restructuring and transformation of the company.”

Among other issues, a plan to impose pay cuts on its pilots has met with resistance from the union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), while reducing its fleet and investing less money in new aircraft could put it at a disadvantage to comparatively cash-rich budget carriers Wizz Air, which has just signed up for another 102 new aircraft from Airbus, and Ryanair.

At a press conference on November 12, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said that the German government had made the right decision in aiding Lufthansa.

“It faced a lot of criticism at the time,” he said. “Many believed the government would never see the funds again. In the end, Lufthansa would become a state company. All of these fears, I would like to clarify again today, have not materialised. Lufthansa made an effort. It used the state money to get through the most difficult months of the pandemic.”