Lufthansa Group, as one of Europe’s largest airline, is witnessing a never-seen-before-crisis today with COVID-19 pandemic bringing global commercial aviation to a complete halt.
George Ettiyil, Senior Director – Sales – South Asia, Lufthansa said that the airline is facing an unprecedented situation comparable to the World War II scenario.
Elaborating on the losses, Ettiyil said, “We can’t even compare the situation to 9/11. Lufthansa, despite its strong financial results, is losing EUR 1 billion per month. The rate at which the cash reserve is depleting, one could expect it to get over very soon. We are faced with life questions with regards to the industry and organisation. We have sought help from the countries we operate in for bailouts. There is only cash outflow and no inflow because of complete suspension of flights.” He was answering a question from President Jyoti Mayal at an e-conference organised earlier this week by TAAI along with TravelBiz Monitor on Lufthansa's financials, and refund process.
With regards to the recovery, he said, “We don’t have a time frame when we will start flying. However, whenever we resume, we will not come back with the capacity that we operated before the lockdown. Moreover, my assessment is that until 2023 is what we should take to reach the pre-lockdown period flying position.”
He spoke about giving attention to the thought the common standards that airlines and the aviation industry will have to adhere to in this new normal world, and the requirement of the health history of passengers.
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