Paris (AFP)
The State does not grant "any blank check" to Air France, which will benefit from an aid plan of seven billion euros to help the airline company to face the consequences of the coronavirus crisis, assured Monday the Minister for Ecological Transition Elisabeth Borne.
"There is no blank check," said the minister on Europe 1. "There cannot be state support, with French money, without the company's ecological commitment."
The Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire announced Friday that Air France would receive this envelope of guaranteed loans and shareholder loan by the French State, which, like the Netherlands, owns 14% of the Franco-Dutch group that the airline is training with KLM.
Many voices were then raised to regret that the State did not condition its aid to strong and concrete ecological commitments by Air France to reduce its carbon footprint.
"I had an interview last week with the leaders of Air France to record the ecological commitments that will be made by the company. It is both reducing CO2 emissions per passenger, reducing emissions by 50% of CO2 on domestic flights by 2024 ", assured the minister before detailing some of the measures envisaged.
"It involves a renewal of the fleet to have planes that pollute less, the use of bio-fuels that I support, and a reflection in France on the Air France network in particular when there are rail alternatives. less than 2.5 hours, "she said.
The company had already before the crisis "the ambition to reduce its CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030", replied Saturday in Les Echos the director general of Air France-KLM Benjamin Smith, who launched in November a group transformation plan to rationalize the national network in particular.
"Air France has helped bring back to our territory nearly 150,000 French people traveling abroad, it is participating in the airlift which allows us to bring sanitary equipment from China, also defended Ms. Borne. Everyone understands that we must support these strategic companies. "
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