Canada offers 150 million dollar loans to airlines
The Canadian government is offering domestic airlines up to 150 million Canadian dollars in repayable liquidity support to manage rising fuel prices. Participating carriers must restrict executive pay and maintain domestic operations while WestJet opposes the move as a market-distorting subsidy.
Canada launched a C$150 million ($107.5 million) loan program on Monday evening to help domestic airlines manage high fuel prices. The program follows a global surge in jet fuel costs linked to the war in Iran that has eroded industry margins. This intervention aims to preserve domestic competition and prevent further carrier collapses following the recent exit of Spirit Airlines in the United States.
The Finance Ministry stated the repayable liquidity support requires airlines to restrict executive compensation. Participating carriers must also maintain their current domestic flight operations to preserve competition.
