‘Another € 4 billion in state aid for Air France KLM’ | Financial

The new capital contribution should prevent nationalization of the aviation combination. Air France KLM has already had backing of a total of € 10.4 billion from the French and Dutch states, both of which are shareholders of the company with a 14 percent stake each.

According to the sources, another € 4 billion in additional state aid can be added: € 3 billion from Paris and € 1 billion from The Hague. In addition, the company would like to raise € 2 billion from investors by issuing loans early next year. Air France KLM does not want to comment on the reporting by Bloomberg and Le Monde.

‘No urgent shortage’

The French Ministry of Finance did say in a statement that Air France KLM does not have an urgent money shortage and that France and the Netherlands are looking at how the balance sheet of the airline company can be helped as well as possible. Minister Le Maire (Finance) has said that the French government is ready to provide more support to the company in order to get through the corona crisis.

His Dutch colleague Hoekstra told RTLZ that there is no hurry now with extra support for Air France KLM, but that it cannot be delayed until the end of 2021. Discussions will take place in the near future, according to the Minister of Finance.

‘Sensible’

An analyst from the Franco-German investment adviser Oddo BHF says that it may be wise to come up with extra state aid now, because the European Commission is temporarily more lenient with rules on government aid. If a corona vaccine is introduced, Brussels could become stricter in that area again next year. The analyst further states that the biggest problem at Air France KLM is currently the sky-high debt and not the lack of liquidity at the French-Dutch group.

Greenpeace is concerned about the additional support. The environmental organization was “not for nothing” in court on Wednesday to demand climate conditions for the multi-billion dollar aid that has already been awarded to “major polluter KLM”. Greenpeace also demands that climate conditions be attached to any new support package.

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