Germany Pushes to Downgrade European Travel Alerts From Warnings to Guidelines

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that the German cabinet would on Wednesday discuss a resolution on downgrading the travel warnings currently in force for European Union countries and several other associated countries into softer guidelines.

“We are preparing a resolution for the cabinet tomorrow, which is still being agreed within the government,” Maas told reporters at a news conference with his Ukrainian counterpart on Tuesday.

“This week we want to start by turning the travel warning we have for the European Union and the associated countries into travel guidelines,” he added.

Factbox

A number of German companies have taken out government-guaranteed loans as part of the federal government’s aid package to deal with the coronavirus crisis.

Here is a list of companies that applied for the package or plan to do so:

TUI

To cope with the COVID-19 impact, the holiday operator received a 1.8-billion euro loan commitment from KfW to increase the company’s existing 1.75 billion euro credit agreement. “The commitment of the KfW bridging loan is an important first step for TUI to successfully bridge the current exceptional situation,” said Chief Executive Fritz Joussen.

Lufthansa

Lufthansa and the German government have not yet agreed on a rescue package for the airline, company and government sources told Reuters at the end of April.

The German airline, which according to a company source might seek some form of protection from creditors while talking to the Berlin government about a 9 billion euro ($9.78 billion) rescue package, is also currently in talks to get financial support from Switzerland and Austria.

Condor

Due to the extended suspension of air traffic, the leisure airline needs an additional 200 million euros from the state, say people familiar with the matter. According to those people, Condor has already been promised a cash injection in order to remain liquid during the COVID-19 crisis even after a state-run group that owns Polish national airline LOT pulled out of the deal to buy the company. In addition, the debtor-in-possession financing of 380 million euros from the state-owned KfW bank will be extended. Condor has confirmed it applied for state aid, but declined to comment on the amount or type of the financial support.

(Reporting by Michelle Martin and team, editing by Thomas Escritt)

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