Lufthansa Group is considering transitioning to a corporate holding structure in a bid to boost its financial standing, Handelsblatt has reported.
The German group did not confirm the plan and a spokesperson said only that Lufthansa Group was constantly reviewing its structure.
The new structure could reportedly be modelled after IAG International Airlines Group, which operates its subsidiary airlines - British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling Airlines, and LEVEL - as independent units. In turn, Lufthansa is currently the parent company for Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings, and Brussels Airlines with no separate company holding the shares in individual airlines.
Lufthansa Group could also look to other industries to model its corporate restructuring after recent similar moves undertaken by Siemens or Daimler.
The group is considering restructuring in response to its declining financial results. In the first half of 2019, Lufthansa Group lost EUR116 million euros (USD129 million) net, down from a EUR713 million euro (USD795 million) net profit in the same period in 2018. The group said the drop in results was caused by short-haul price wars in Germany and Austria, as well as by rising fuel and maintenance costs.
