Paris (AFP)

The CEO of the French airline terminated XL Airways has called on Air France to come to his rescue, ensuring in an interview to the Journal du Dimanche (JDD) can become an asset for the group.

"Air France can move." The group's CEO, Ben Smith, has the power, he must put XL at Air France (...) The social dialogue can be settled in 24 hours.In 12 months, you can define a plan and become the + sniper + (maverick, Ed) of the Air France group on the long-haul low cost, "said Laurent Magnin.

Friday, Mr Magnin had said that his company, which had claimed the day before its placement in receivership, needed 35 million euros to revive.

If Air France, which has already been approached in the past, opposed XL Airways a new end of non-receipt, a new round of table would remain possible, hoped Mr. Magnin.

"Some financiers can say that we are in the most touristic country in the world and that French air can not fail, I am sure there is a smoking blow to be done in our sector", he said. he pleaded.

Asked by the JDD about the causes of serious difficulties XL Airways, which serves four continents from Paris, mainly in North America, including the United States, the West Indies, but also in China, Mr. Magnin pointed the finger new competitors.

"We did not see the arrival of the Norwegian bubble, its new planes, its medium-haul long-haul system applied to the long-haul.On our activity towards the United States, the shock was frontal and we did not It was able to react quickly enough, "he conceded.

But the company has mostly suffered the movement of "yellow vests" during the winter of 2018-2019, he continued. "When our flights from China were three-quarters empty, like this winter, everything became complicated (...) the summer was not enough to restore the situation."

XL Airways' difficulties, which has 570 employees, were revealed less than three weeks after another French company, Aigle Azur, also found itself in a financial stalemate, having to interrupt its flights. She was then placed in liquidation.

The commercial court of Evry will examine Monday four proposals for recovery of Aigle Azur, which employs 1,150 people. Air France, a time in the ranks, gave up an offer.

Another commercial court in the Paris region, that of Bobigny, should for its part examine the application for recovery of XL Airways Monday.

However, said the company in a statement Saturday night, "rescue solutions, including an agreement between the current shareholders and Air France, as negotiated in the spring of 2018, exist and are more than ever before. news. "

The company, urging the government to "concrete actions", asked "the holding of a meeting in the coming hours, tomorrow morning (Sunday), between our shareholders, the management of XL Airways and Air France, under the aegis of the public power, to put an end to this dramatic situation ".

© 2019 AFP