Greece's largest carrier Aegean Airlines said on Thursday it would ask the country's big banks for 150 million euros of loans under the COVID-19 Enterprise Guarantee Fund, to deal with hardships related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Aegean, a member of the Star Alliance airline group, said under the programme the state guarantee is set at 80% for loans lasting up to 5 years and for up to 25% of annual turnover.

"We will apply for a total amount of 150 million euros, equal to only 11% of our turnover," the carrier said.

That, along with 510 million euros of cash reserves at the beginning of the crisis, would give it some time to adjust, it added.

The loan request will be submitted to Alpha Bank, Eurobank, National Bank and Piraeus Bank.

The airline said that government measures unveiled earlier on Thursday to support the aviation industry were a step in the right direction, even though the numbers were rather limited compared to other EU countries.

Greece's measures to support the air transport sector, hit hard by the grounding of flights during the pandemic, amount to 115 million euros.

Aegean said similar programs were already in place across the EU, especially in northern Europe, providing significantly greater support for payroll costs.

"The measures, therefore, must continue and evolve. It is necessary to extend their validity until the beginning of the 2021 tourist season," it said.

(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)