European Commission approves French airline tax deferral scheme

European Commission approved (31-Mar-2020) a French scheme deferring the payment of certain aeronautical taxes by airlines, ruling it in line with state aid laws. The scheme aims to compensate airlines for part of the damage suffered due to the coronavirus outbreak by temporarily reducing the pressure on cash flows. The scheme will be accessible to airlines with an AOC in France. It will offer them the possibility to defer the payment of certain taxes that would in principle be due between Mar-2020 and Dec-2020 to after 01-Jan-2021 and to pay the taxes over a period of up to 24 months. [more - original PR]