Greek carrier Aegean seeks E150m in loans to cope with coronavirus

Greece's largest carrier Aegean Airlines said Thursday it would ask the country's big banks for E150m of loans under the COVID-19 Enterprise Guarantee Fund, to deal with hardships related to the coronavirus pandemic. Aegean said under the programme the state guarantee is set at 80% for loans lasting up to 5 years and for up to 25% of annual turnover. "We will apply for a total amount of E150m, equal to only 11% of our turnover," the carrier said. That, along with E510m of cash reserves at the beginning of the crisis, would give it some time to adjust, it added. The loan request will be submitted to Alpha Bank, Eurobank, National Bank and Piraeus Bank. The airline said that government measures unveiled earlier Thursday to support the aviation industry were a step in the right direction, even though the numbers were rather limited compared to other EU countries. Greece's measures to support the air transport sector, hit hard by the grounding of flights during the pandemic, amount to E115m.<br/>