The European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union’s long-term financing institution, has granted a loan of €200 million to Amadeus IT Group, subsidiary of Amadeus IT Holding.

The loan, which has a nine year maturity, will be available from May 24th and will be used by Amadeus to finance the research and development of a variety of projects in the area of IT for airlines, airports, hotels, and rail between 2012 and 2014.

Amadeus is a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry.

It will act as the guarantor of the transaction.

There are two tranches to the loan: one with a notional value of €150 million, with semester repayments after the third year; and a second tranche with a notional value of €50 million, with semester repayments after the fourth year.

The EIB is the long-term lending institution of the European Union and is owned by its member states.

In 2011 it provided finance totalling €61 billion.

It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.

One such goal is to promote the implementation of the knowledge economy, such as education, research and development and innovation.

Philippe de Fontaine Vive Curtaz, vice-president, European Investment Bank said: “This €200 million development loan to Amadeus achieves our objective of making long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.

WAmadeus’ commitment to innovation and proven track record in developing successful IT solutions fits naturally with our commitment to promoting the European knowledge economy.”