Lufthansa plans full takeover of Brussels Airlines

[FRANKFURT] Lufthansa's supervisory board is to meet on April 27 to discuss buying the 55 per cent of Brussels Airlines which it does not yet own, German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Wednesday, citing no sources.

Lufthansa, which is due to hold its annual general meeting on April 28, declined to comment on the report.

Brussels Airlines is attractive for Lufthansa because of the business traffic which flows through its hub in the Belgian capital, where many European Union institutions are based.

However, bomb attacks on Brussels' airport and subway network last month which forced the airport to close cost the airline around 5 million euros (S$7.7 million) a day. The airport partially reopened on April 3.

Lufthansa bought 45 per cent of Brussels Airlines for 65 million euros but retained an option to acquire the rest by 2018, with the total price for the takeover coming to as much as 250 million euros, depending on the carrier's performance.

Lufthansa chief financial officer Simone Menne said last month that the German airline would like to "come to a conclusion" on Brussels Airlines this year. "We expect an important step in the second quarter," she said at the time, adding that Lufthansa was in talks with colleagues in Brussels.

REUTERS