STOCKHOLM, June 15 (Xinhua) -- The Swedish government said on Monday that it was prepared to shore up Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) as well as Swedish airport operator Swedavia in a bid to make up for the companies' coronavirus-related losses, but the offer came with tough conditions for them to meet a set of climate targets.
The government said it wanted to offer an additional 5 billion SEK (539 million U.S. dollars) to SAS and 3.15 billion SEK to state-owned Swedavia, which operates 10 airports in the country.
"We are entering a new era for Swedish airlines," said Per Bolund, minister for financial markets and housing, calling Monday's announcement "historic." The conditions for receiving the money include a commitment to reduce carbon emissions.
"Let me be clear, Sweden will only go in with capital to SAS if clear, quantitative targets for reduced emissions are set in line with the Paris Agreement's 1.5 degree Celsius goal," Bolund said at a news conference on Monday.
The announcement came as SAS presented a recapitalization plan on Monday and said it needed about 12.5 billion SEK in new funding to survive the coronavirus pandemic, Swedish Television reported on Monday.
"The aim of the plan is to ensure that SAS is fully funded and that shareholders' equity will be at levels reported before the COVID-19 pandemic when anticipated business volumes return to pre-corona levels in 2022," SAS said in a statement.
The Swedish state has a 14.8-percent stake in the carrier and the government said it would ask parliament for an injection of up to 5 billion SEK but the plan also needs a green light from the European Union.
The Swedish government has also backed Swedavia's decision to shelve plans to expand Stockholm's Arlanda Airport.
"We are seeing a major decrease in flying. To then go ahead with plans to extend capacity would not be an efficient use of taxpayers' money," said Bolund. (1 U.S. dollar = 9.3 SEK) Enditem