$127.9mn loan to help EgyptAir through coronavirus crisis – ministry

Egypt’s government will lend the state-owned carrier EgyptAir 2 billion Egyptian pounds (equivalent to $127.39 million) due to the impact of the coronavirus on its operations, the Finance Ministry said on Sunday.

A member of the Star Alliance led by Germany’s Lufthansa , EgyptAir halted regular international flights on March 19 when the government closed the country’s airports to combat the spread of the coronavirus, Reuters reported.

The government will support state-owned EgyptAir until it returns to 80 percent of its 2019 operations, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

EgyptAir has continued flying some domestic routes and repatriation flights for citizens stranded abroad.

Egypt is allowing hotels to reopen for domestic tourists on condition they operate at no more than 25 percent capacity until the end of May.

From June 1, hotels will be allowed to work at up to 50 percent capacity.

The virus has shut down Egypt’s tourist sector, which accounts between 12 percent and 15 percent of gross domestic product, leading to losses estimated at $1 billion per month.