Air France-KLM and its companies have signed revolving credit lines worth 2.2 billion euros, indexed to sustainable development goals, the airline group announced on Tuesday, which is cleaning up its finances after the shock of Covid-19. Part of these instruments will replace a direct loan granted to KLM by the Dutch State and a line of credit guaranteed by the latter to face the consequences of the pandemic, which will free the company from the conditions attached to this aid.
“Air France-KLM, Air France and KLM have signed two revolving credit lines linked to sustainable development with a group of international financial institutions, for a total amount of 2.2 billion euros,” the French-Dutch explained in a press release. .
Reduction of CO2 emissions and greater use of sustainable fuel
In detail, Air France-KLM and the Air France company have signed a revolving credit line of 1,200 million euros with an initial maturity in 2026 with a pool of “15 international banks”, while KLM signed a credit line of 1,000 million euros maturing in 2027 with 14 establishments.
These two lines of credit thus include “a credit margin adjustment mechanism (up or down) conditional on compliance with each of these performance indicators”, such as the reduction of unitary CO2 emissions and the increase in sustainable aviation fuel quota.
PGE definitively reimbursed since March
On January 9, Air France-KLM completed its first €1 billion sustainable development-linked bond issue. It was then a matter of repaying part of the loans guaranteed by the French State in 2020, at the beginning of the health crisis that devastated the aviation sector. Returning to profit in 2022 after two years of abysmal losses, Air France-KLM announced on March 15 that it had finished repaying these loans.
The consolidation of finances also involves the conversion of 600 million euros of values assimilated to equity. The group will no longer have to respect the conditions that Brussels had linked to this aid: prohibition of paying dividends, moderation of executive compensation and limitation of acquisitions.
Source: BFM TV
