German airline Lufthansa said today it has repaid all its financial aid from the government "much earlier" than planned, supported by rising air travel demand and a company restructuring.
The German government contributed €6bn ($6.75bn) to a recapitalisation in June 2020, and provided a €3bn loan to help Lufthansa through the pan-industry crisis brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. The airline said today all funds have been repaid or cancelled, on the back of "rising demand for air travel, the fast restructuring and transformation of the Lufthansa group and the capital markets' confidence in the company."
The airline carried 19.6mn passengers between July and September, compared with 7mn in the second quarter and 8.7mn in the third quarter of 2020. This helped push the group's quarterly revenue up and it generated cash flow of €13mn ($15.1mn), the first positive cash flow this year. It said it expects to report another positive cash flow at the end of the fourth quarter.
"We are determined to further strengthen our balance sheet, increase our profitability and generate attractive capital returns," chief financial officer Remco Steenbergen said.

