April 18 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said that it has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether certain Romanian support measures in favour of Romanian low-cost airline Blue Air comply with EU state aid rules.
The Commission is concerned that the restructuring plan implemented for Blue Air by the Romanian state and the aid measures implemented to support this plan are not in line with EU state aid rules, it said in a press release on Monday.
In August 2020, the Commission approved 62 million euro ($68 million) in public guarantees for Blue Air, to compensate for the damages resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions and to to partly meet the company's liquidity needs.
Last month, Blue Air entered insolvency after the Bucharest Tribunal said it approved the airline’s filing for insolvency on March 21.
Blue Air, the only air carrier in Romania with 100% domestic capital, started operations in December 2004.
($=0.911397 euro)