Berlin regrets EU decision on airline Niki as insolvency looms

By Reuters Staff

1 Min Read

BERLIN, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The German government said it “greatly regrets” a decision by the European Commission to block Lufthansa’s planned purchase of airline Niki and it signalled insolvency for the Air Berlin subsidiary and the grounding of its flights.

“Due to the unexpected collapse in proceeds from the sale of Niki, it is possible that only a part of the government guaranteed loan from KfW (bank) to Air Berlin will be repaid,” said government spokesman Steffen Seibert in a statement.

“The government will do everything it can to limit the damage to the tax payer,” he added.

Reporting by Thomas Escritt and Madeline Chambers

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