El Al confirms negotiations on USD400m loan

El Al announced (14-May-2020) it is conducting negotiations with lenders and Israel's Ministry of Finance to obtain a loan of USD400 million, most of which will be backed by a state guarantee. El Al CEO Gonen Usishkin said: "El Al is one of the Israeli economy's most significant corporate casualties from the coronavirus crisis, and for this reason we asked the Israeli government to assist El Al as most countries in the world have done". Mr Usishkin added a streamlining programme was established to allow the carrier to operate in the coming years and return to profitability, however the measures will not be sufficient without the Israeli government support. [more - original PR]