The European Commission has approved a government-backed bridge financing of 200 million euros (265 million dollars) for Austrian Airlines. This decision will not affect the sale of the carrier to Lufthansa, which is an agreement in which the Austrian government has agreed to assume a debt of 500 million euros (663.5 million dollars) in the airline. The debt did amount to 900 million euros (1.2 billion dollars) back in November.

Lufthansa agreed to purchase the nearly 42 percent share hold in Austrian Airlines from the Austrian government on December 5^th, and they plan to take over the airline completely for as much as 377 million euros upon approval from the government. The deal between the two carriers also needs to be approved by the European Commission, with regulators still studying the proposal for the buyout by Lufthansa.

In a statement, the European Commission said that the financial aid is going to be in the form of a loan facility guarantee, which is based on market rates, in order to maintain the operations of the company until the commission is able to take a position on other issues, which involve potential state aid that is linked to the privatization of the carrier. The commission also said that the amount of the financing is limited to only what the company needs in order to be managed. The decision, they added, is dealing with the airlines’ liquidity problems, which Austrian Airlines has experienced due to the financial crisis and downfall of the economy.

Find out more about the carrier at: www.aua.com