EgyptAir aims to get new loan from two Egyptian banks – CEO

State-owned carrier, EgyptAir is negotiating with the National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr to obtain an 3 billion pounds loan, EgyptAir CEO Mohamed Roshdy said on Monday.

In a statement to Al-Borsa Economic Newspaper, the CEO of Egypt’s national airline said that the loan aims to pay the external debts incurred by the company amid to the coronavirus crisis, Ahram Online reported.

He also revealed that the external debts of EgyptAir have so far reached 13 billion pounds, adding the losses of the company since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak have reached 3 billion pounds, at nearly 1 billion pounds per month.

In mid-May, the Egyptian Ministry of Finance announced that it would lend EgyptAir 2 billion pounds due to the impact of the coronavirus on its operations.

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

In early April, the International Air Transport Association estimated that Egypt’s airline industry may face potential losses in revenues of $1.6 billion in 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis.

Egypt suspended international flights in mid-March to curb the spread of the virus in the country.

According to statements by cabinet spokesperson Nader Assad in late May, Egypt is considering a “gradual resumption” of international flights in the second half of June or the first half of July.

EgyptAir is currently operating domestic flights inside Egypt as well as exceptional international flights for Egyptians stuck abroad.