Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr expects further restrictions for unvaccinated passengers worldwide. “We see this trend worldwide. Global freedom will be preserved for vaccinated and convalescent people,” said Spohr Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (Saturday edition). There are already restrictions for those who have not been vaccinated. EU citizens are only allowed to enter the USA if they are fully vaccinated and also tested negative for the corona virus. Spohr emphasized the advantages of compulsory vaccination, as it should apply in Austria from February 2022. He also sees the compulsory vaccination for flight personnel, which is already in place at Lufthansa’s Swiss subsidiary, as positive. At Swiss and Austrian Airlines, “almost all those who work in flight operations have been vaccinated,” said Spohr. “In Germany we estimate over 90 percent.” With the 3G rule for domestic flights, Lufthansa has had good experiences so far: “We have been working on domestic flights under 3G conditions since this week, even for our crews, without any problems so far,” said Spohr. According to the 3G rule, access is only granted to those who have been vaccinated, recovered or tested. Regarding the vaccination rate in Germany, which is low compared to other European countries, the CEO said: “I am disappointed that the people of poets and thinkers are not more enlightened and open about modern medicine and technology.
According to Spohr, the German state earns around one billion euros from the rescue of the airline in the Corona crisis. The interest on the already repaid government loans to 92 million euros. “In addition, the state will earn around a billion euros from its equity stake,” he said: “For the taxpayer, the rescue of Lufthansa, for which we are all very grateful, was good business.” The federal government wants to sell the share package of a good 14 percent by October 2023.