German flagship airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG has concluded its takeover of Austrian Airlines AG, the airline said Thursday. All conditions for the transactions are now fulfilled, Lufthansa said. Officials formally sealed the deal - which gives Lufthansa about 42 percent of Austrian shares owned by the government - at Vienna's international airport. “Today marks the conclusion of the privatization of Austrian Airlines,” said Peter Michaelis, the head of Austria's privatization agency, at a news conference. “It was hard work but we can now say it was worth it - firstly for AUA but ultimately for Austria.” Last week, the European Commission green-lighted the roughly 366,000 euros ($523,000) bid and also approved a 500 million euros ($715 million) government restructuring program, which Lufthansa has said in the past would be necessary to reduce Austrian's debt. The Cologne-based Lufthansa, which is now Europe's largest airline by sales, had also made a 166 million euros ($237 million) offer for the free floating Austrian shares. Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Lufthansa's chief executive, said he looked forward to working together with Austrian Airlines and openly addressed the struggling carrier's financial difficulties that will cost many employees their jobs. “AUA doesn't have a product problem, it has a cost problem,” Mayrhuber said. Hard-hit Austrian announced in July it planned cut about 1,000 jobs by mid-2010 as part of an effort to boost its competitiveness. In 2008, 10.7 million passengers flew with Austrian Airlines to 120 different destinations. Austrian Airlines currently operates a fleet of 91 aircraft. Austrian Airlines, which has been squeezed financially in recent years, first by high jet fuel prices and then by the economic downturn and falling passenger numbers, will become part of Lufthansa as of September. It also approved 500 million euros of restructuring aid injected into Austrian Air.
