File photo: CGTN

Lufthansa is losing a million euros ($1.1 million) per hour as the coronavirus pandemic paralyses travel, CEO Carsten Spohr said, warning that the German airline giant would need state aid to survive.

"We are losing about a million euros in liquidity reserves per hour. Day and night. Week by week," Spohr said in a video message to staff on Wednesday, seen by AFP on Thursday.

Europe's largest airline group by passenger numbers "will not be able to survive this increasingly longer lasting crisis without state support", he added.