Spanish government considering loans for Iberia

The Spanish government is considering granting soft loans to flagship airline Iberia, a unit of London-listed International Consolidated Airlines Group, newspaper El Pais reported on Tuesday.

The government is not considering taking a stake in the airline for now, the newspaper said.

Spain is discussing with other European Union countries and the European Commission plans to aid the region’s airlines as the coronavirus pandemic forces an almost complete stop to commercial passenger flying.

Iberia like other companies can draw from special credit lines offered to companies facing liquidity problems, a source from the Transport Ministry said.