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EU Commission Approves Aid to Brussels Airlines

On July 24th, Brussels Airlines announced that it had reached an agreement with the Belgian Federal Government and Lufthansa to secure the future of Belgium’s home carrier and herewith the long-term development of the airline through a stabilization package. On August 17, the package was approved by the German Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF).
Today the EU Commission has also given its approval.

The stabilization package of 460 million euro – €290 million from the Belgian Federal government and €170 million from Lufthansa – covers in part the losses incurred by Brussels Airlines due to the crisis and secures at the same time tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs that are linked to the activities of Brussels Airlines. Thanks to the package, the airline can finance its turnaround plan and herewith create a long-term and structurally profitable future.

Dieter Vranckx, CEO of Brussels Airlines: “With this news, we finally conclude the three pillars of our survival and long-term competitiveness. We are relieved that the execution of the financial transaction can take place. We will now shift all our focus towards a timely implementation of our turnaround plan Reboot Plus. Thanks to the support and trust we receive from our shareholder Lufthansa, the Belgian government and from all our employees, we can create a strong and competitive Brussels Airlines with long-term perspectives, an important engine for the Belgian economy. For that, I sincerely thank all involved parties.”

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic and its unprecedented impact on the aviation sector, Brussels Airlines reports a loss of EUR -182 million in the first six months of 2020, despite the drastic cost-control measures taken to combat the crisis. First half revenues fell to EUR 252 million, 63% below their prior-year level. (H1 2019: EUR 684 million). The airline transported 67% fewer passengers between January and June and the seat load factor dropped by 7.4 percentage points to 72.4%.

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