Air France wins 7 billion euro state-backed loan package

PARIS (Reuters) – Air France will receive a 7 billion euro ($7.6 billion) loan package backed by the French government to avert a cash crisis brought on by the coronavirus crisis, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire announced on Friday.

France will issue 3 billion euros in direct loans and guarantees on another 4 billion in bank lending to the carrier, part of airline group Air France-KLM, Le Maire said.

“Air France’s planes are grounded, so we need to support Air France,” the minister said on TF1 television, adding that the aid would carry conditions requiring the group to “become the most environmentally friendly airline on the planet”.

The French state is also preparing to back about 5 billion euros in loans to carmaker Renault , Le Maire said.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Leigh Thomas and Laurence Frost; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Alex Richardson)