The French government has earmarked EUR 20 billion of the comprehensive EUR 100 billion emergency aid package for large companies that are considered strategic.

This is reported by the French newspaper Les Echos. Air France-KLM is one of the companies that can take advantage of this.

The airline combination expects to be able to attract sufficient additional financing to meet its payment obligations.

The group predicted this on Thursday, based on discussions with the Dutch and French governments and banks. The French government has already announced that it wants to help Air France with a substantial aid package.

Earlier this week, French Transport Secretary Jean-Baptiste Djebbari called an emergency loan of 6 billion euros to Air France “realistic”.

On Friday, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on radio station Europe 1 emphasized once again that the government is ready to help Air France. “No doubt very quickly,” he added.

Like many other airlines, Air France-KLM has been walloped by the corona pandemic. In the coming months, the company will only perform 10 percent of the number of flights from a year earlier.

Emergency loans or other financial aid are needed to weather the crisis. If it is not available before the third quarter, Air France-KLM believes there is a shortage of money.