The coronavirus keeps shaking the airline industry and prompting carriers worldwide to seek support from the outside. The Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus has secured a €150 million recovery loan from the Ireland Strategic Investments Fund ISIF.

ISIF was established in 2014 to invest in supporting economic activity and employment in Ireland. Last May, it was mandated to invest (via equity, debt, and hybrid instruments) up to 2 billion euros in large scale companies suffering from the pandemic. According to the fund, 90% of the 430 million euros invested in Ireland in 2020 was mostly so-called “stabilization investments,” including the three-year Aer Lingus loan and 40 million euros for the Dublin Airport Authority.

“It is a commercial investment, it’s not state aid,” said Conor O’Kelly, the chief executive of the National Treasury Management Agency (the institution overseeing ISIF).

ISIF is currently working on a pipeline of more than 600 million euros in potential investments, with more than two-thirds directed towards “recovery investments” in the tourism, transport, and hospitality sectors.