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Lufthansa is in final negotiations on a sale of its LSG catering division’s European operations to Switzerland’s Gategroup as part of plans to focus on its airline business. The proposed sale announced on Tuesday comes as Lufthansa contends with low margins in a competitive market, with Lufthansa’s supervisory board expected to sign off on the deal on Dec. 3, sources close to the matter said. “The sale is part of Lufthansa’s new strategy to focus on its airline business,” the German carrier said. “Furthermore, the sale enables the new owner to further develop the catering business.” No financial details were disclosed. Airline catering company Gategroup said the deal, which would be subject to regulatory approval, was still under negotiation and parties were moving forward with discussions.<br/>

The lost capacity caused by the grounding of its Boeing 737 MAXs is holding back LOT Polish Airlines’ growth plans, the carrier’s CEO said. The airline transported 8.9m passengers last year and expects more than 10m in 2019. “However, we would have transported more, but regarding the 737 MAX grounding, we were not able to find all the capacity in the market which we needed,” LOT CEO Rafał Milczarski said. “This has been a problem for us. The 737 MAX 8 has had more impact on our growth plans, because this was completely unexpected.” LOT had five MAX 8s at the time of the worldwide grounding in March and expected to be operating 12 this year. The carrier has not extended the leases on its current 737 Classics because of fuel-efficiency concerns. “The CO2 emission reduction by a 737 MAX compared to our 737 Classic is over 30%,” Milczarski said. Milczarski said he is confident in EASA’s approach to determining the MAX’s airworthiness once Boeing’s fixes are complete.<br/>