On Friday 11 December, the European Commission authorised two French State Aid measures in favour of Corsair, an airline operating in the passenger and freight transport sector mainly to French overseas territories.
The first measure consists in €106.7 million of restructuring aid. The second sum of €30.2 million aims to compensate the company for damage suffered due to emergency measures put in place in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President responsible for Competition Policy, recalled that “Corsair was in financial difficulties which were aggravated by the coronavirus outbreak”.
Corsair is a private French airline company, which operates routes from Paris-Orly airport to the French Antilles, Reunion, Mauritius, Côte d'Ivoire, USA and Canada.
In November 2020, France notified two measures in favour of the airline to the Commission. The Commission has taken into account the following elements: - the amount of restructuring aid represents less than 50% of the restructuring costs; - in the context of the restructuring, the current shareholders (Diamondale and TUI) will withdraw from the company; - Corsair has not received any rescue or restructuring aid over the last ten years. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)