Air France-KLM's French unions on Monday criticised calls by their Dutch counterparts for KLM to be given greater autonomy, amid signs that a multibillion-euro coronavirus bailout is increasing tensions within the airline group. "It's an illusion to think KLM would fare better without Air France," the French carrier's unions said in an open letter responding to comments last week by Dario Fucci, head of the KLM works council. France agreed last month to issue or guarantee E7b in loans to Air France, with another 2-4b pledged to KLM by the Dutch government. But the rescue package, designed to see the group through the virus pandemic that has crippled the global airline sector, also stoked concern in the Netherlands over possible French nationalisation in a later capital increase. The French and Dutch governments each own close to 14% of Air France-KLM, which declined to comment on the exchange of barbs between its unions. In Dutch media interviews, the KLM union chief suggested the relationship between the airlines and the combined Air France-KLM holding company should be loosened in response to the "exploding" debt on the Air France side. "The prenuptial agreement will have to change," Fucci was quoted as saying. "We want to buy fuel and sell tickets together, but that's the end of it."<br/>
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A French government plan to rescue Air France is contingent on the carrier scrapping some domestic flights, the country's economy minister has said. Air France should become "the most environmentally respectful airline", Bruno Le Maire said. The government has approved a E7b loan to Air France, which has been hit hard by coronavirus curbs. On Monday, the EC approved the proposal, saying it met EU rules on state aid. Le Maire said the coronavirus crisis provided an opportunity to "reinvent our model of economic development to ensure it is more respectful of the environment". He added this meant a number of Air France domestic routes would need to go. "It is obvious that today a number of domestic routes are no longer justified," he said, without giving further details. "When you can travel by train in less than two and a half hours, there is no justification for taking a plane."<br/>
Russian investigators probing the Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet 100 crash at Moscow Sheremetyevo a year ago are still awaiting results of specific fire and structural analyses before releasing their final findings about the accident. But the Interstate Aviation Committee says some of the work – including US manufacturer Curtiss-Wright’s assessment of fire-protection units – has been held up by restrictive measures imposed during the coronavirus crisis. The inquiry is yet to complete research into the probability of fire occurring and spreading after the aircraft lands, which is being carried out by St Petersburg’s university for the state fire service. It is also awaiting the results of assessment into the collapse of the aircraft’s landing-gear and damage to the fuel tanks in the wing, and analysis of compliance with design requirements of landing-gear struts and attachment points. This work will be carried out by the investigators once they receive the results of undercarriage load modelling being performed by French aerospace firm Safran.<br/>