Lufthansa Compensation to Flight 9525 Victims' Families Too Small - Lawyer

Compensation offered by Lufthansa airline to relatives of Germanwings flight 9525 victims, who died in the March plane crash in the French Alps, did not meet international standards and should be increased, a lawyer for the victims’ families Elmar Giemulla said Tuesday.

BERLIN (Sputnik) — In March, Lufthansa’s Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed en route from Barcelona to Dusseldorf in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board.

“I must say, fortunately, Lufthansa has not yet seen a similar tragedy to speak about the possible highest ceiling on payments. However, when compared to other incidents, this statement on the ceiling on payments is false… The international experience proves that such cases require much higher compensations,” Giemulla told RIA Novosti.

Shortly after the crash, Lufthansa offered a one-off compensation of up to 50,000 euros [$56,000] per passenger to their relatives, apart from other eventual compensation payments. The additional payments to the relatives varied according to the victim’s nationality and the degree of kinship.

Recalling the examples of the most devastating plane crashes, the lawyer stressed that the bereaved families received at least $750,000 per person, and even more, sometimes amounting to some $1,4 million.

“The fact that Lufthansa would be paying only a few thousand euros, I would say, spoils the whole impression [of international solidarity]," the lawyer added.

Giemulla stated that the bereaved relatives are shocked by the passive attitude of the company and would like to see more personal understanding.

According to the media, a number of lawyers have already considered the sum of Lufthansa’s compensation inadequate.

Earlier in July, Lufthansa offered a one-time 25,000 euros ($28,000) compensation to heirs-in-law of German citizens killed in the Germanwings crash.