Plus Ultra responds to the judge: it will prove the need for the €34 million in rescue funds

Plus Ultra responds to the judge and have said that they will prove the need for the €34 million rescue funds, and that they will do so within the deadline given.

In March the Spanish government approved a controversial bailout of the Plus Ultra airline. The aid came in two forms. The first form was a loan of €19 million which will mature in 2024. This money has already been received. The second part of the funding is a €34-million loan, which would mature in 2026. At the moment a judge has suspended this loan as a precautionary measure.

Plus Ultra claim that they need the €34 million loan in order to maintain over 2,500 indirect jobs and over 350 direct jobs.

The decision to suspend the funding was made by the 15th Court of Instruction of Madrid. The airline has said they will respond within the five-day deadline and prove the need for the funding.

Judge Esperanza Collazos believes that the investigation which has been opened for alleged misappropriation of public funds “justifies the suspension of the delivery scheduled for July 28.” She has given the airline a period of five days to prove why they need the loan to pay creditors.

Plus Ultra state that “the remaining financing is essential to comply with the company’s viability plan, as approved by the Solvency Support Fund managed by SEPI, following the serious impact suffered by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

They have also commented that: “This information was already validated in the process of requesting financing from SEPI by the consulting firm Deloitte, the investment bank Daiwa Corporate Advisory and the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA). All three reports, after an exhaustive process of verification and analysis of the application, favourably supported the granting of the public financing.”

The airline plans to cooperate fully with the justice system in Spain and are remaining calm.

Thank you for reading, and don’t forget to check The Euro Weekly News for all your up-to-date local and international news stories.