Brussels approves EUR 5m in state aid for Fraport Slovenija
Brussels - The European Commission has approved EUR 5 million in state aid for Fraport Slovenija. The company operating Ljubljana airport will receive the money to compensate the damage it suffered between 17 March and 30 June 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Commission said on Tuesday.
If the actual damage suffered by Fraport Slovenija is lower than the approved amount, the company will have to return the difference.
It said the state aid scheme was confirmed because it meets the conditions applying to the temporary state aid rules.
The Slovenian government approved the state aid in early December.
The five million euro represents around 33% of the damage Fraport has estimated to have suffered due to the epidemic.
The state aid will go into providing liquidity, covering running costs and into urgent investments.
The Jože Pučnik Ljubljana Airport is Slovenia's main international airport and as such an infrastructure facility of national importance.
Some 97% of total air passenger traffic in Slovenia goes through it.
Fraport Slovenija estimates that due to Covid-19, the number of passengers at the airport would plummet by 80%.
The company is currently at 18% of the passengers from 2019, which is the reason why it has undertaken a number of measures to cut its material and labour costs.