Romania's Government approved on Thursday, April 23, the granting of rescue loans for local airlines Tarom and Blue Air to help them overcome the crisis caused by COVID-19, Ziarul Financiar reported.

The two companies have previously called for bailout loans totaling EUR 130 million.

Tarom has decided to send more than 1,000 of its 2,000 employees into technical unemployment to reduce expenses as much as possible.

Blue Air has also suspended the labor contracts for 90% of its employees. The company's CEO, Oana Petrescu said it needed a rescue loan of between EUR 40 and 90 million to overcome the coronavirus crisis.

Currently, all the regular flights operated by the two companies are suspended due to COVID-19 restrictions. Adina Valean, the European Commissioner for Transport, announced that the flights could resume soon, but with a series of social distancing measures that will also generate additional expenses for the companies.

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editor@romania-insider.com