Blue Air thanks the Romanian Government and those representatives of the Romanian State who understood the importance of Romanian aviation for the future of this country, confirms the receipt of the first tranche of the loan of 300.775.000 LEI and prepares for a complicated winter and recovery starting with spring 2021.
We are pleased to announce to our passengers and business partners that, 6 months after the adoption by the Romanian Government of the Memorandum deciding to support TAROM and Blue Air to offset the effects of the Romanian state's decision to suspend flights, on Friday , October 23, 2020, all the steps to operationalize the loan of 300.775.000 million LEI granted by Eximbank with state guarantee have been completed.
Blue Air obtained a 6-year loan
For reference, it is a 6-year loan, with ROBOR interest + 4% + commission for the risk fund of 2% per year, guaranteed with a series of assets, including 75% of the shares of Blue Air Aviation SA and the main shareholder , Airline Invest SA
Please note that obtaining this funding was the basis for Blue Air's decision to resume scheduled flights from July 2020 - making it possible to cover losses and liquidity shortages caused by the emergency shutdown.
We would like to thank the Prime Minister of Romania, the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communications, and all those specialists within this ministry, the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, the Competition Council, EximBank, as well as those representatives of the Ministry of Public Finance who understood the importance of Romanian aviation. for the future of this country, both in terms of strategic connectivity and as a source of revenue to the state budget and a factor of multiplication in the economy - and which have supported us to overcome the multiple bureaucratic obstacles encountered in the last 7 months.
We thank our passengers who understood the major difficulties we have had in recent months.
At the same time, we take this opportunity to thank our passengers who understood the major difficulties we have had in recent months and have continued to trust us and travel with Blue Air.
Likewise, we thank our trading partners who accepted our entry into the preventive arrangement procedure and continued to offer us supplier credit even when, due to the absolutely incomprehensible postponement of the completion of the state aid measure, we did not was able to honor the commitments for September and October 2020.
Last but not least, we thank all our colleagues who, although much of this period were technically unemployed, in the short intervals in which they were asked always responded promptly and professionally. The Blue Air team has always made sure that our aircraft are well maintained, that passengers travel safely and that they receive the information available to be able to plan their trips as well as possible, despite the uncertainties.
The support that the Romanian Government has decided to give Blue Air honors us and creates an additional responsibility for us.
The support that the Romanian Government has decided to give Blue Air honors us and creates an additional responsibility for us - that of continuing to support the Romanian aviation in this difficult period for all of us. Moreover, this support comes as a confirmation of the fact that we are a company of strategic importance in Romania and we can be an important engine of economic recovery.
Obtaining the state guarantee for granting the loan of 300.775.000 LEI was an extraordinarily complicated process, much delayed compared to previous forecasts, during which we had to make many adjustments to the initial plan presented to the Romanian and European authorities, but also to creditors concordatari.
Blue Air paid the debts in full to ANAF
Thus, as a result of the conditions, considered abusive by us, imposed by the Ministry of Public Finance, the first withdrawals from the loan were used for full payment of debts to the Romanian State (ANAF, AACR and Romatsa) although approximately 80% of the amounts paid to ANAF they were due and their payment prevents the company from benefiting from the fiscal facilities granted to all taxpayers by the same Romanian State.
Unfortunately, knowing that an even harder winter is coming than the ones we were used to, and the level of flight demand is decreasing from one week to the next, we are very disappointed that we had to give up the rescheduling agreed by ANAF in June 2020. , which puts additional pressure on the organization in the coming months.
In this context, we need to review once again the recovery plan and the offer to be agreed. Every remaining lion must be well saved by spring when, with the mitigation of the pandemic, we are ready to recover.
The guarantee received from the Romanian State is a vote of confidence in the ability of the Blue Air team to get through this complicated period and to continue to fly, pay taxes to the Romanian State and repay the loan.
We still have the needs of passengers at the forefront. Thus, although the flight demand is below 20% compared to the same period last year, we will continue to operate flights to the destinations most requested by our passengers.
We will start refunding the amounts owed to passengers
In addition, with the help of this credit we will be able to start reimbursing amounts due to passengers who have decided that they no longer wish to travel within the next 24 months and who have already applied for a refund..
We are glad that our passengers, for the most part, have decided to support us by using the electronic wallet to purchase Blue Air tickets or services in the next 2 years.
We thank them for their trust - this helps us to be even more prepared for recovery next year, so that we can offer them better and better travel solutions, both in terms of service level and price.
Blue Air continues the fight
At Blue Air, we are determined to continue to fight for this company, for the Romanian aviation, for our team and passengers - enterprising people, who work for a better life and bring money to Romania. We are determined to build an even stronger company together, which will continue to compete on an equal footing with the big European low-cost companies. We know what we have to do, and we have shown so far that we can do what we set out to do.
We continue to rely on the support of our passengers, partners and colleagues and will continue to do our best and it is humanly possible that, despite unexpected bureaucratic difficulties, we can overcome this difficult situation together for Blue Air and the entire airline industry. aviation and tourism.
The existence of solid Romanian companies in the strategic fields for the country represents the only guarantee for the protection of the Romanian strategic interests. Blue Air is one of these companies. You can count on us.
Oana Petrescu, General Manager
On behalf of the entire Blue Air team
Bode says something else.
https://m.hotnews.ro/stire/24394888?amp
Did Blue Air get the money?
Who's lying?
Yes, he received 50% of the money needed because it is a loan contracted through Eximbank and guaranteed by the government. It's not state aid. He will also receive the second tranche. The Senate wanted to put on a show, but omitted that the credit part in Romania is not in its attributions :). At TAROM there is another story, there is state aid with money coming from the government.