Airlines are suffering not only in Germany. Air France also needs government aid to survive in the Corona crisis. The EU Commission now allows loan aid of over seven billion euros.
France can help Air France in the corona crisis with seven billion euros in the form of loan guarantees and a loan as a shareholder. The EU Commission approved the liquidity aid on Monday.
Among other things, the commission pointed out that the state could face bankruptcy without government support. France had shown that all other options for raising money in the financial markets had been examined and exhausted.
On the one hand, a state guarantee of up to 90 percent was approved for loans of up to four billion euros. The subordinated loan of the French state as a shareholder was approved according to the rules of the EU treaty. According to the EU Commission, state aid is possible if there would otherwise be a serious disruption to the entire economy of a member state.
“Serious damage” to the French economy
The French state holds 14.3 percent of the Air France / KLM group involved, one of the largest airlines in Europe with a fleet of more than 300 aircraft. Because of the corona pandemic, practically no more flies are currently taking place.
“The Commission concluded that without public aid, Air France would likely face the risk of bankruptcy due to the sudden slump in business,” the agency said. “That would probably do serious damage to the French economy.”
– .
