Lufthansa Group has said in a stock market filing that it exceeded a 40% threshold of foreign shareholding and thus triggered a clause enabling it to launch a buyback of shares. However, the carrier said it did not expect to do so in the near future.

"Following careful analysis, the company does not believe that there is any immediate danger of an increase of non-German shareholdings which would endanger the company’s ability to meet the requirements for retaining its licenses, rights and prerogatives under aviation law. It currently does not intend to exercise its right to buy back its own shares," the group said.

At the time of the notification on April 30, 2019, foreign shareholders held 41.7% of Lufthansa's stock. Since then, on May 9, Cayman Islands-based fund Lansdowne Partners increased its stake held through its UK subsidiary from 5.2% to 7.7%.

The increase in foreign shareholding has been rapid given that in a disclosure on March 31, 2019, Lufthansa said that foreign entities held only a 29.5% stake in the group.