Last checked at 
(Updates with Norwegian, easyJet announcements; Adds details;
background)
By Laurence Frost
PARIS, April 27 (Reuters) - Progress towards coronavirus
bailouts lifted the shares of Lufthansa and Air
France-KLM on Monday, as the protracted travel slump
turned up the heat on rivals yet to secure financing needed to
tide them through the pandemic.
Lufthansa shares rose as Germany moved towards a
multi-billion-euro rescue for its national airline champion,
while investors digested a 7 billion euro ($7.6 billion)
state-backed package unveiled for Air France-KLM late on Friday.
But the coronavirus crisis risks drawing an uneven state aid
response from governments, creating divisions between the haves
and have-nots.
Virgin Atlantic is seeking private investors after its
appeal for about 500 million pounds ($620 million) in UK aid met
a lukewarm initial reaction. Norwegian Air said it
would run out of cash in weeks unless creditors and shareholders
approve a rescue that all but wipes out its current owners.
"European and Asian governments will undoubtedly provide
immediate financial support to the troubled airline industry
through 2020," sector analyst Howard Wheeldon said.
"From an airline perspective the COVID-19 crisis is not only
ground-breaking for all but for some, terminal."
Germany will not allow Lufthansa to be among the casualties,
two ministers said on Monday.
"We want large and important companies that play a role in
the world market to remain competitive after the crisis,"
economy minister Peter Altmaier told public radio.
Lufthansa shares were up 7.6% in Frankfurt, while Air
France-KLM's stock was 1.7% higher as of 1343 GMT - the gains
dampened by the prospect of dilution in a capital increase.
Announcing the Air France-KLM loans, with another 2
billion-4 billion euros to follow from the Dutch government, the
Franco-Dutch group said it expected to raise new equity within
the next year, with France likely to participate.
"The fear of such an impending raise will also act as a cap
on the shares going forward," Citi analyst Mark Manduca said.
As risks go, dilution is still preferable to bankruptcy.
Norwegian Air shareholders are being asked to approve their
own near-obliteration in a rescue that leaves them with just 5%
of the airline - handing 53% to leasing firms and 42% to
bondholders. Its shares fell further after the plans were
outlined on Monday.
The carrier, which went from low-cost long-haul disruptor to
the brink of insolvency even before the virus outbreak, may
still struggle to push the deal through and tap 2.7 billion
crowns ($255 million) in government guarantees.
An executive at one of Norwegian's lessors told Reuters it
was "still reviewing" the proposed terms.
Virgin Atlantic, which had said it needed government aid to
survive, confirmed on Sunday it was exploring private sector
funding as talks with officials continued.
Low-cost rival easyJet, which has received a 600
million-pound emergency government loan, was meanwhile forced to
call a May 22 shareholder meeting at which its founder and
biggest investor, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, is seeking to oust CEO
Johan Lundgren and his top team.
Lundgren has rejected Haji-Ioannou's call to terminate a 4.5
billion pound order for 107 Airbus jets. Easyjet shares
were up 1.3%.
Other low-cost airlines appear likely to survive the
pandemic without state aid - and perhaps emerge strengthened by
competitors' difficulties or demise.
Ryanair, whose shares were 3.6% higher, recently predicted a
price war it plans to win once travel rebounds.
No-frills rival Wizz Air has become one of the
first European carriers to restore services halted by the
pandemic. The London-listed Hungarian airline will resume
flights from London to destinations including Budapest, Lisbon
and Tenerife on May 1, it said on Saturday.
Daniel Roeska, a European airline analyst with Bernstein,
said the sector may have passed a milestone in the crisis.
"With slowing new infections and sequential opening of
economies you will continue to get support for airline stocks
over the next couple of weeks," he said.
($1 = 0.9214 euros)
($1 = 0.8045 pounds)
(Reporting by Laurence Frost; Additional reporting by Sarah
Young in London and Terje Solsvik in Oslo; Editing by Jan Harvey
and Susan Fenton)
