EC OKs aid scheme of EUR 51.5 M for the airport operators in Romania

The European Commission has approved an aid scheme of EUR 51.5 million that provides support to airport operators in Romania, which have been hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The public aid will be granted by means of direct subsidies.

The measure will be available to airport operators in Romania that have an annual passenger traffic ranging from 200,000 to 3 million passengers and which reported losses during July 2020-December 2021, according to a EC press release.

The purpose of the aid is to meet the liquidity needs of airport operators and to help them to continue their activities during and after the pandemic.

According to the EC, the Romanian aid scheme complies with the conditions provided in the temporary framework. The aid will not exceed EUR 2.3 million per beneficiary and will be granted by 30 June 2022. The Commission has concluded that the measure is necessary, appropriate and proportionate to remedy a serious disturbance in the country’s economy.

The aid scheme was approved by the Romanian Government in October 2021. The aim was to help operators overcome the financial difficulties they face as a result of the pandemic crisis. The document provides a total budget of 51.5 lei to support airports.

The Romanian Airports Association had made a request for financial support in the amount of 61.7 million lei, for the airports that in 2019 registered a traffic of more than 200,000 passengers and less than 3 million passengers, respectively Bacău, Cluj, Craiova , Iaşi, Sibiu, Suceava, Timişoara. Subsequently, the Avram Iancu International Airport in Cluj returned with the request to reduce the amount initially requested from the state budget, from 18.2 million lei to 9 million lei.