Lufthansa to takeover Brussels Airlines once profitable: CEO

Lufthansa CEO Christoph Franz, in an interview with Sueddeutsche Zeitung, said the carrier would wait until its minority owned unit Brussels Airlines is profitable before acquiring the remaining 55% of its shares. He said: "A complete takeover will result when the turnaround is complete and Brussels can firmly stand on its own two legs". He noted that the carrier has provided sufficient financing to the carrier to ensure its restructuring efforts. Mr Franz said Europe's airlines as a whole were making losses, adding that Lufthansa was also unprofitable in its European passenger business. "Currently we expect that we will probably have to pay a little bit less for kerosene this year," he said. He also said Austrian Airlines is expected to be profitable in 2013.