FILE PHOTO: Airplanes of German carrier Lufthansa are parked at the Berlin Schoenefeld airport, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Schoenefeld, Germany, May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo
May 29, 2020
BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany and Brussels have reached a preliminary agreement in the ongoing row over the 9 billion euro ($10 billion) bailout of carrier Lufthansa <LHAG.DE>, two people familiar with the matter said.
The people said Lufthansa is giving up as much as four planes each in Frankfurt and Munich as well as up to 24 corresponding landing slots.
One of the people said the deal, first reported by business paper Handelsblatt, would not officially conclude talks between the German government and the European Commission.
A Lufthansa spokeswoman declined to comment.
The agreement comes only two days after Lufthansa’s supervisory board rejected an initial deal with Brussels, which included the forfeiture of 72 slots used by 12 of 300 jets based at the Frankfurt and Munich airports, a source familiar with the matter said.
While Lufthansa wanted to reclaim the slots after repaying aid, the Commission sought permanent concessions, the person said.
(Reporting by Holger Hansen, Christian Kraemer and Ilona Wissenbach; Writing by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Sabine Wollrab, Sandra Maler and Jonathan Oatis)
