Revenues of the National carrier Tunisair have dropped by 400 million dinars due to the COVID-19 crisis, said Transport and Logistics Minister Anouar Maarouf, adding that the government has no intention of privatising the company.

These losses do not take into account the indirect cost of aircraft maintenance, Maarouf said during a hearing session held Monday by the Committee on Administrative Reform, Good Governance, Fight against Corruption and Control of Public Financial Management at the House of the People's Representatives (HPR). Maarouf stressed the importance of improving the performance of the state-owned company, which is expected to make a profit.

This hearing session was held after the dismissal of Elyes Mnakbi, CEO of Tunisair, who challenged the decision taken by the Minister of Transport and Logistics.

Tunisair's activity has been suspended for 100 days, except for evacuation flights (112 flights) in addition to air freight operations for national medical establishments.

The Public Prosecutor's Office has taken into custody 7 Tunisair suspects, including former and current Tunisair executives, following a complaint lodged by the former Minister of Transport, and the subsequent reports and complaints filed concerning suspicions of abuse and financial corruption at Tunisair technics, and the completion of initial investigations.

The Judicial, Financial and Economic Pole has recently received a complaint from the Ministry of Transport and Logistics requesting the opening of a judicial investigation against 6 senior officials of the Tunisian carrier, including a former head of the company, in addition to all those whose names will be revealed in the investigation.

This complaint was lodged in view of the results of missions carried out by the General Inspectorate of the Ministry of Transport in connection with infringements at Tunisair Technics concerning a repair file for six aircraft engines.

Copyright Tunis Afrique Presse. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com)., source News Service English