Smartwings passed crucial test

Czech airline Smartwings has passed a financial stress test needed for it to receive financial aid from the state insurer EGAP, which oversees the Covid Plus support program. The company is seeking CZK 900 million in loans to get it through the pandemic crisis after its planes were grounded during the lockdown period. Passengers are returning to the air, especially for vacations in the countries where this is possible, but they're doing so in far smaller numbers than usual. Smartwings passed the stress test primarily because its results from 2019 were strong enough to make it elegible for EGAP to provide a loan guarantee. Lidove noviny reports that the company was given a B- rating, which is the lowest result that allows the guarantee to be provided under the Covid Plus program. Without such a guarantee, the state would refuse to lend money to a company that's so susceptible to the Covid pandemic.