Lufthansa e Swiss se unem. (Inglês)

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The chiefs of Lufthansa and loss-making Swiss International have broadly agreed on a planned union of the two carriers, a newspaper reported, citing Lufthansa sources.

Swiss's shareholders confirmed that talks in Switzerland have brought the two airlines closer together, Handelsblatt said on Thursday in a preview of its Friday edition.

Lufthansa chief Wolfgang Mayrhuber has guaranteed the continuation of the Swiss brand in an informal agreement, provided Swiss lowers costs further and the German carrier has control of Swiss's network, the paper said.

Lufthansa and Swiss declined to comment on the report.

Industry experts said last month that the two carriers were likely to reopen official takeover talks two years after Swiss rejected a previous tie-up attempt by Lufthansa in 2003.

Investors and analysts said Swiss has much more work to do to lower its cost base before an alliance would be possible, but added that Swiss's chances of survival were slim on its own.

Swiss, which has been run by ex-Lufthansa manager Christoph Franz since July, would provide Lufthansa with a hub at Zurich and lucrative business traffic.

An industry source said last month that Lufthansa's position had not materially changed since autumn 2003, namely that the airline remained open to discussions with Swiss. The aim is definitely to integrate Swiss with operational control on the German side, the source said.

Swiss has yet to make an annual profit since being born in a public-private bail-out from regional carrier Crossair and the remnants of predecessor Swissair, which failed in 2001.

(Reuters)



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