Corsair's rescue plan is creating turbulence in the airline industry.
On Monday, Marc Rochet, the president of Dubreuil Aéro, which brings together the two companies Air Caraïbes and French Bee, expressed “
his extreme concern
” about the risk of distortion of competition caused by the rescue plan in which the State provides assistance in the form of loans and exemptions.
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According to
La Tribune
, out of the € 300 million envelope of the plan, the State has committed to allocate € 141 million to Corsair through several instruments: direct loan, participatory loan, exemptions from charges.
More promising measures than government guaranteed loans (PGE) intended to replenish the cash flow of companies.
“
This has nothing to do with the EMPs from which Air France KLM or even the Dubreuil group - to which the two companies belong - have benefited
, specifies Marc Rochet.
In the first case, the State is a shareholder and European regulations do not prohibit its financial support.
As for the EMP from which the Dubreuil group benefited, it was 150 million euros, while the group has 4,800 employees, including 1,300 in the airline sector.
But state aid in favor of Corsair is assimilated to equity
”.
The leader denounces the tendency of the State to infuse airlines too easily: “
Air transport must prepare for a major transformation.
However, the infusion does not help us and does not make us brave.
State aid must be fair and minimal.
It is the sacred taxpayers
'
money
, ”exclaims the leader.
Unsurprisingly, the CEO of Corsair, Pascal de Izaguirre, rejected the objections of his competitor of Air Caraïbes with which he had failed to ally himself five years ago: “
Given the exceptional nature of the crisis, and no one disputes that air transport is one of the most affected
and damaged
sectors
, no airline can get through this crisis without state aid
, he pleaded Monday on BFMTV.
Whether in France or in all other countries, all states help their national companies
. ”
But Corsair's competitors point to the structural difficulties of the former subsidiary of the TUI group.
Since 2009, the company has accumulated an operating loss of 364 million euros for a cumulative turnover of 4.8 billion euros.
Corsair was only in the green in 2016 and 2017.
Read also: Low-cost airlines are resisting the crisis
However, the lines to the overseas departments operated by Air France, Air Caraïbes and Corsair are “millionaires”.
Each year, 1.4 million passengers are transported between Paris and Pointe-à-Pitre, and one million between Paris and Saint-Denis de la Réunion.