Lufthansa to Buy 26% of East German Carrier : Airlines: Some say West Germany’s international giant wants one day to take over its counterpart across the border.

In another move toward the reunification of Germany, the West German airline Lufthansa said Wednesday that it plans to buy 26% of Interflug, its East German counterpart.

Lufthansa Airlines spokesman Stefan Herscher said in a telephone interview from Frankfurt that a letter of intent has been signed by the two carriers but that a final agreement has not been reached.

The preliminary agreement was signed last week, he said, but details have not been made final. Therefore, he said, such matters as the sales price could not be disclosed.

The fact that the letter of intent had been signed was disclosed by Frank Beckmann, a member of Lufthansa’s executive board, at a news conference during an international travel conference in Berlin.

Among other things, the agreement must be approved by a vote of the employees of state-owned Interflug. They have been assured that none of them would lose their jobs if Lufthansa buys a stake in their airline.

Herscher said many companies in both East and West Germany have wanted to acquire partners on the other side of the border since the East German Communist government was ousted last October. A Western-style general election will be held in East Germany on March 18 and many contacts have been placed on hold until after the results are known.

Herscher stressed that “both airlines will maintain their independence.” And he insisted that Lufthansa wants “a minority in Interflug and nothing more.” The letter of intent specifically allows Interflug to continue to develop its own routes.

Some airline observers, however, maintained that Lufthansa’s long-term goal is total integration of the two carriers, which already have some marketing agreements.

“This means that Lufthansa--which has much bigger worldwide operations--over time will absorb Interflug,” said Paul Turk, an official of Avmark, an aviation management service in Arlington, Va. “Interflug would become a domestic German airline and Lufthansa would be the international carrier.”

Turk reasoned that if Germany were reunited, “the country’s economy would probably not be able to support two international airlines. Lufthansa is far stronger and has a much stronger international network and would be likely to serve the major international routes, including those now served by Interflug.”

Lufthansa, recognized by the crane emblazoned on the blue tail of its aircraft, serves 178 airports in 84 countries and employs about 50,000 people. It is 51% state-owned, with the remainder owned by shareholders and other companies. It is Western Europe’s second-largest carrier, after British Airways, and operates 160 planes. Last year, it carried 20 million passengers. It serves 12 U.S. destinations, including Los Angeles.

Interflug owns 58 Soviet-made aircraft and leases three A-310 Airbuses, which are manufactured by Airbus Industrie, a Western European consortium. Of its Soviet-made planes, three are cargo planes and 14 are VIP craft for government officials and thus are not used in commercial service.

Interflug has not operated German domestic flights since 1980.