Date Published: 25/06/2020
ARCHIVED - Spanish Government preparing aid package for airlines
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
It will take years for air travel to recover to current levels even if the Covid virus is brought under control swiftly
On Thursday the Minister for Transport and Mobility, José Luis Ábalos, announced that the Government is finalizing a specific aid plan for Spanish airlines in order to help them deal with the crisis by guaranteeing their liquidity and solvency.
" After having spoken with the companies and having evaluated their needs the Ministry of Economy is preparing a strategic aid program for airlines," Ábalos said during his speech at a telematic forum organized by “Thinking Heads”after verifying that the ICO lines established at the beginning of the crisis "have not been sufficient".
At the beginning of the crisis Spanish airlines arranged financing of this type guaranteed by the ICO for between 1,500 and 1,800 million euros but the head of Transport acknowledged in his speech that "this is insufficient and they need more, because the damage caused to the sector has been serious", due to the paralysis of transport and the closure of borders.
For this reason, the Ministry of Economic Affairs is preparing a specific plan for the sector, although the Minister was unwilling to give further details at this point.
Airlines across Europe have adopted varying approaches to the solvency challenges, anticipating aslow return to full operations which may take years to achieve. Bloomberg has compiled the following as examples.
IAG: Has secured 1.1 billion euros in Spanish government-backed loans for its Iberia and Vueling arms, and 300 million pounds of U.K.-backed loans, for a total of about $1.56 billion. The company plans to eliminate as many as 12,000 jobs, having furloughed 22,000 staff. The BBC reported that the carrier is also considering closing its secondary hub at London Gatwick airport.
EasyJet: Has raised 600 million pounds through the U.K. government’s Covid Corporate Finance Facility and furloughed staff.
Deutsche Lufthansa: governments of Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium are together looking at a rescue worth more than 10 billion euros. Germany may take a stake of up to 25% plus one share and the workforce may shrink by 10,000 to survive the crisis.
Air France-KLM: could receive up to 11 billion euros from the French and Dutch governments. KLM plans to cut up to 2,000 posts and has taken advantage of furlough programs. Air France is discussing layoffs with unions.