SEPI fund approves €111mn rescue of Spain’s Air Nostrum

Spain's Air Nostrum inks LOI for 10 dirigibles

Air Nostrum (YW, Valencia Manises) has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for the operating lease of ten Airlander 10 airships with the British manufacturer Hybrid Air Vehicles.

The firming of the commitment is subject to the certification of the airships. Air Nostrum hopes the first unit will enter into service in 2026 with deliveries of the remaining nine planned in a staggered manner over the next five years. The Spanish regional carrier would therefore be the type's global launch operator.

Air Nostrum stressed the airship's benefits in terms of its reduced environmental footprint and operational efficiency. It said the Airlander 10s would be able to operate from any "reasonably flat surface" - land or water - and would not require runways or other space-consuming infrastructure. They will be an attractive proposition to serve city centres, cities without airports or islands, although Air Nostrum did not reveal any further details concerning its plans for the airships.

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Madrid approves €200mn rescue loan to Spain's Volotea

Spain's government said it had approved a EUR200 million euro (USD214 million) loan to Volotea (V7, Asturias) as part of a series of bailouts to "strategic companies" to assist their recovery from the pandemic.

The aid will be channelled entirely through a participatory loan. As part of the deal, the shareholders of the privately-owned low-cost carrier must add a further EUR10 million (USD10.7 million) in cash to help steady the airline.

Volotea originally lodged its request for state funding in early December 2021, asking for up to EUR185 million (USD198 million). It said at the time that this could be a participatory loan provided via multiple lenders and stressed that "it does not plan to exhaust" the sum.

The bailout will arrive via Spain's sovereign wealth fund (Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales - SEPI), which said in a statement on June 7 that the "new temporary public support operation" was approved "after an exhaustive and rigorous process of analysis of the economic and legal situation" of Volotea.

On learning that the loan had...

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