Germany's Lufthansa on Thursday posted a two billion euro loss in its third quarter as it prepares for a "hard and challenging winter" over lockdowns to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

A plane of Lufthansa is seen at Tegel International Airport in Berlin, capital of Germany, on April 10, 2018. (Photo: Xinhua)

Europe's largest airline said it will fly a maximum of 25 percent of normal capacity from October to December this year, as it expects to burn 350 million euros ($411 million) a month.

"We are now at the beginning of a winter that will be hard and challenging for our industry," chief executive Carsten Spohr said.