In the UK, RCL Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and Carnival PLC (both are UK entities of the two world's largest cruise companies) received millions of GBP in state assistance as part of the new "COVID Corporate Financing Facility" program, according to documents published by Bank of England.
RCL received GBP 300 million (USD 375 million) while Carnival Corporation received GBP 25 million (USD 31,3 million). The funding is from the London City-based Bank of England (the UK's central bank). Travel companies to also benefit from this program include the airlines easyJet PLC (Great Britain) and Ryanair DAC (Ireland).
Last week, David Bernstein (Carnival Corporation’s Chief Financial Officer) mentioned the program to investors when describing the company's liquidity position, saying it had qualified for USD 700 million from the UK.
Carnival plc is a UK-based and stock exchange-listed holding company part of Carnival Corporation & plc that fully owns the subsidiaries AIDA, CCl-Carnival, Cunard, Princess, P&O UK and P&O Australia.
RCL Cruises Ltd is a UK-based company (part of Royal Caribbean Group) that manages 16 ships (of the group) that have been entered in the UK tonnage tax.
The so-called commercial paper program issues short-term liquidity support on favorable terms to corporations to help them survive the health crisis. The interest rate secured by each of the companies is not made public but assumed to be appealingly low.
Bank of England's criteria for receiving the federal aid is broad: any company that makes “a material UK contribution” is eligible.