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SAS

Virus-stricken airline SAS secures new public loan from Denmark and Sweden

AFP
AFP - [email protected] • 27 May, 2021 Updated Thu 27 May 2021 08:03 CEST
Virus-stricken airline SAS secures new public loan from Denmark and Sweden
FILE PHOTO: Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) planes are pictured at the Arlanda airport, north of Stockholm, while the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Stockholm, Sweden April 9, 2020. Anders Wiklund/TT News Agency/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. SWEDEN OUT.NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SWEDEN./File Photo

Sweden and Denmark will issue a new loan of almost 300 million euros ($366 million) to Scandinavian airline SAS to keep it afloat through the coronavirus crisis, the company said Wednesday.

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If approved by EU competition authorities, the cash infusion from its biggest shareholders will "create a liquidity buffer... a complement to other ongoing activities at SAS to reduce costs and strengthen liquidity," the carrier said in a statement.

Expected to reveal further losses when it publishes results for its February-April quarter on Thursday, SAS has already slashed 5,000 jobs -- or 40 percent of its workforce.

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The new loan of 3.0 billion Swedish kronor follows a slightly larger credit of 3.3 billion in May last year, while a recapitalisation scheme launched in August saw Copenhagen and Stockholm expand their shareholdings.

Sweden and Denmark now each own 21.8 percent of SAS, up from 14.8 percent and 14.2 percent before the pandemic.

READ ALSO: Sweden and Denmark dig deeper to save SAS

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