Egypt has approved a financing request of EGP 3 billion (about $191 million) by national carrier EgyptAir to be used to pay external debt, reports say.
The Central Bank of Egypt will release the funds in form of loan, state-run Ahram online reports.
EgyptAir, which resumed flying from July 1st after several months of hiatus due to the pandemic, had been since June in talks with the National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr for a loan, Arabia Finance reports.
The financing according to Chairman Mohamed Rushdi Zakaria aims to pay part of the airline’s external debt.
It is unclear how much the airline is seeking but the impact of the pandemic has dramatically impacted its activities and revenues.
The approval comes as International Air Transport Association (IATA) reports a sharp fall in passenger demand for August, in the Middle East region. The organization says airlines in the region witnessed a 92.3 per cent fall compared with a 93.3% decline in July.
Capacity collapsed 81.9 per cent, and load factor sank 47.1 percentage points to 35.3 per cent, it also indicated.
IATA as the pandemic hit the world, urged governments of the region to back national carriers with financial support to help the companies keep head above water.
Egypt loans national carrier EgyptAir $191m to finance external debt
