Lufthansa's insurers set aside $300 mn for Germanwings crash

Insurers of German airline Lufthansa have set aside $300 million for possible costs related to the Germanwings crash, a spokesman for the airline confirmed to Xinhua news agency on Tuesday.

Lufthansa spokesman Michael Lamberty said the amount was currently reserved for all costs arising in connection with the case, including compensation for family members of the victims, costs of the destroyed passenger plane, as well as rescue and support forces.

An Airbus A320 operated by Lufthansa's budget airline Germanwings crashed on March 24 in a remote area of the southern French Alps. A total of 150 people, including 144 passengers and six crew members, lost their lives.

Prosecutors believed, based on retrieved data from the cockpit voice recorder, that the co-pilot of the flight 4U9525 had locked the captain out of the cockpit and deliberately crashed the plane.

Lufthansa announced on Friday that it had started to offer immediate aid of up to 50,000 euros ($53,660) per passenger to relatives of the victims.

Those payments, Lamberty told Xinhua on Monday, are currently being offered to relatives of the victims, but more time is needed until the whole payment process is completed.