The news that BIL were considering selling their Luxair shares came as a surprise to Gilles Feith, CEO of the LuxairGroup. He said he can understand if a bank wants to focus on its core business, but he was sad to lose a shareholder who had been part of Luxair’s journey since its foundation in 1961.
BIL’s CEO Marcel Leyers made sure to stress on Monday that nothing has been decided. When asked about this, Feith lauched and said he was unable to comment on the matter. Hesays he believes in aviation, which creates value for the economy, and added that the Cargolux shares held by Luxair also play an important role.
But Feith didn’t hide that times are hard in the sector: competition from low-cost airlines, the pandemic and now the war and the ensuing rise in energy prices are all playing their part. Luxair has already lost 1 million euros because it had to purchase kerosene short term. And the price increases have not fully been felt yet, according to him.
Because airlines cannot pass these price hikes on to customers, Gilles Feith welcomed the government’s decision to postpone the next indexation until April 2023. At this time he does not yet know how much Luxair will benefit from the other financial aids for businesses with high energy usage.
Luxair has had to cancel 24 flights due to missing staff since 8 April. This is not only due Covid, he said, hoping that they will quickly get the situation under control. He made a point to thank those who helped out, as well as the “aviation geeks” who support the company. The goal should be to spread that spirit throughout the business.
