The European Commission announced, on Monday 17 April that it has opened an in-depth investigation to verify the compliance with EU law of Romanian aid measures in favour of the airline Blue Air Aviation.
Blue Air Aviation has been in financial difficulty since 2019. Its licence was temporarily suspended in 2022. As a result, the firm’s activities are suspended.
The company had previously benefited from two measures, approved by the European Commission in 2020 (see EUROPE 13152/23).
The first measure consisted of a public guarantee of approximately €28 million and aimed to compensate the company, which was affected by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
The second measure consisted of a public guarantee of approximately €34 million on a rescue loan covering part of Blue Air Aviation ‘s liquidity needs for the next six months.
Romania had communicated a restructuring plan to the European Commission in April 2021. This plan covers the period from August 2020 to September 2025.
The Romanian restructuring plan includes extending the duration of the guarantee on the rescue loan to six years and the intervention of private financing.
Romania also repaid the rescue loan in November 2022 and subscribed to a 75% stake in Blue Air Aviation.
The Commission wants to verify, through its in-depth investigation, the compliance of the Romanian aid measures with the EU Guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms other than financial institutions (2014/C 249/01).
More specifically, the Commission wishes to verify whether the plan ensures that the viability of Blue Air Aviation can be restored without additional State aid. The Commission will also examine whether the company contributes sufficiently to the costs of its restructuring. Finally, the Commission wants to ensure that adequate measures are implemented to compensate for possible distortions of competition in the internal market for air transport services caused by the measures included in the restructuring plan. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)