Grupo Wamos, parent entity of Wamos Air (EB, Madrid Barajas), has repaid Spain’s sovereign wealth fund (Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales - SEPI) a loan granted to the firm through a support fund for strategic companies (Fondo de Apoyo a la Solvencia de Empresas Estratégicas - FASEE) during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ACMI/charter carrier made a third and final payment of EUR 67.4 million (USD 72.9 million), plus interest, SEPI said in a statement. Grupo Wamos had already made two previous payments: one in July 2024 for EUR9.6 million (USD10.3 million) and one in December 2023 for EUR8 million (USD8.6 million). The total amount the airline received for the loan was EUR85 million (USD93.4 million at the time).
Five Spanish carriers -Air Europa, Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas, Wamos Air, Volotea, and Air Nostrum- received state aid from the Spanish government during the pandemic, totalling EUR924 million (USD1 billion).
According to SEPI, Air Europa, Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas, Air Nostrum, and Volotea have not yet fully paid back their loans. It did not disclose the amount they still owe individually (as a collective, Spanish companies have repaid 22.7% of the EUR2.68 billion FASEE funds loaned to over 25 strategic firms during the pandemic).
Wamos Air was recently acquired by Abra Group, incorporating it into its portfolio of carriers which include avianca airlines (AV, Bogotá) and GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes (G3, São Paulo Congonhas).
