Paris (dpa) - Air France-KLM on Thursday said it was confident it will receive the necessary financial injections from France and the Netherlands to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Franco-Dutch airline group said it expects a cash shortfall in the third quarter despite applying severe cost-cutting measures in recent months.
"It is now clearer than ever that support from both Dutch and French governments is needed to meet our cash requirements and enable us to continue our operations once the crisis is over," Air France-KLM CEO Benjamin Smith said in a statement late Thursday.
He said that "in-depth discussions" with officials from Paris and The Hague had begun and that the group was confident it would be able to obtain the additional financing it needed to ensure its recovery.
Smith did not quantify the amount needed to get the company through the crisis. However, the total amount is expected to exceed billions of euros.
France had already signalled support for the company.
"We will not leave Air France-KLM alone facing the very violent crisis that aviation companies are facing now," French Economics and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on April 2.
In 2019, the Dutch secured a significant stake in the airline. According to information at the time, The Hague had 14 per cent of the shares, whereas France held 14.3 per cent. Air France merged with the Dutch airline KLM in 2004.
International airlines currently carry far fewer passengers in many countries due coronavirus travel restrictions.
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