German airline giant Lufthansa said Wednesday that the Swiss government had agreed to offer state-backed loans of around 1.2 billion euros to the company's subsidiaries Swiss and Edelweiss. The two Switzerland-based carriers "will receive guarantees from the Swiss Confederation for 85 percent of loans totalling 1.5 billion Swiss francs (approx. 1.4 billion euros)", with the money to be paid out by a consortium of Swiss banks, Lufthansa said in a statement. kih/hmn/rl