Troubled industry: Eurowings fears more bankruptcies

The head of the Lufthansa low-cost flight subsidiary Eurowings considers the situation in his industry to be still critical. Despite the slight recovery in the past few months, it could be tight for some airlines.

The head of Eurowings, the low-cost subsidiary of Lufthansa, expects a wave of bankruptcies in his industry due to the consequences of the pandemic. “I assume that the wave of consolidation is still ahead of us in an accelerated form,” said the manager of the Berlin “Tagesspiegel”.

“The price is not everything”

If now aid loans had to be repaid and interest was due, “some market participants would not be able to cope with these challenges,” said Bischoff.

According to his own statement, the Eurowings boss does not fear competitors like Ryanair. The price of a plane ticket is not everything. “The desire for safety and health beats everything at the moment, including the airfare.” Eurowings will “not flinch when Ryanair makes another attempt”.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, mainly smaller airlines have disappeared from the market. Most recently, the Italian state company Alitalia was merged into the new airline ITA. However, Alitalila had struggled with massive losses for years. The German market leader Lufthansa, on the other hand, was able to repay its state aid recently.