EU Commission approves EUR150m bridging loan for airberlin
EU Commission approved (04-Sep-2017) the German Government's plans to grant a "temporary" EUR150 million bridging loan to airberlin. The Commission expects the measure "will allow for the orderly wind down of the insolvent airline Air Berlin without unduly distorting competition in the Single Market". German public credit institution KfW will provide a credit facility of up to EUR150 million to airberlin over the coming months. The Commission noted the loan will be paid out in installments under "stringent conditions", which include airberlin demonstrating its liquidity needs on a weekly basis, and new installments will only be paid when all existing liquidity has been used. The Commission confirmed Germany is "committed to ensure that either the loan will be fully repaid, or Germany will submit a winding down plan for Air Berlin". [more - original PR]