Estonian Air May Be Headed for Bankruptcy
Despite previous assertions that Estonian Air cannot be allowed to go bankrupt, the national air carrier might have to do just that if the European Commission does not grant Estonia permission to bail the company out.
Prime Minister Andrus Ansip previously said that the state would not allow Estonian Air to go bankrupt under any circumstances.
“Since Estonian Air's fate will not be determined by the will of the government, but instead by the European Commission's decision, no scenario can be completely ruled out,” Ansip said at a press conference on Thursday.
Officials said more details would emerge in coming weeks, but a final decision may not be made until the second quarter of 2013.
At the end of October the state-owned Estonian Air announced a loss of 20.2 million euros for the first nine months of the year. On the same day, CEO Tero Taskila was replaced with Jan Palmer as CEO of Estonian Air.