Lufthansa considers selling Austrian Airlines
19 March 2012Deutsche Lufthansa on Thursday said it would consider selling its Austrian Airlines unit if it can’t turn the struggling carrier around amid a wide-ranging plan to cut costs to combat high fuel prices and sluggish growth in Europe.
“‘It isn’t possible to say when Austrian Airlines will break even,'” Chief Executive Christoph Franz said. “‘We will stick with Austrian Airlines until we no longer see prospect for profit,'” Mr. Franz said. “‘We still see this prospect,'” he said, though the business is in a critical condition and needs drastic restructuring.
Lufthansa has agreed to sell loss-making U.K. unit British Midland Ltd.”known as bmi“to British Airways and Iberia parent International Consolidated Airlines Group. It said Thursday it has signed a letter of intent to dispose of its 25% stake small Chinese unit Jade Cargo to China’s Unitop.
source: wsj.com