German airline Lufthansa will reduce 20% of its leadership jobs and 1,000 administrative posts amid a restructuring plan to overcome COVID-19 pandemic impacts, Reuters reported.

The Lufthansa Group Corporation, which employs about 138,000 people, said it will halve its investment in new aircraft while noting that by 2023 it will be able to purchase up to 80 new aircrafts.

The airline said on Tuesday it wanted to cut government loans and equity shares as soon as possible to avoid increasing interest charges adding that higher rates would increase the financial burden on the company and would require a greater reduction in costs.

The company also said its 22,000 full-time employees are no longer needed but would try to avoid forced layoffs.

Earlier, the company's shareholders supported government assistance of EUR 9 billion, when the company was on the verge of collapse due to a sharp reduction in the number of flights.