Lufthansa says willing to look at Austrian Airlines
LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) - Deutsche Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) is interested in Austrian Airlines (AUAV.VI), but said it needed to be approached by the Austrian carrier first, Lufthansa's head said on Wednesday.
"We are willing to look at it," Chief Executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber told a news conference in London, adding that so far Lufthansa had not issued an offer.
Media reports said last week that Austrian Airlines was open for a majority takeover after investor Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa al Jaber withdrew from a plan to take a 20 percent stake. The Austrian state owns about 43 percent in carrier.
Lufthansa's Mayrhuber said bookings for July and August were "extremely up" and he was expecting to grow capacity by 7 percent this summer.
He confirmed Lufthansa's outlook, expecting 2008 operating profit at least at last year's level.
"We aim for the same results as last year and we have ambitions to do more," he said. (Reporting by Matthew Scuffham, Writing by Eva Kuehnen)
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