JDS
Agreed the situation is not black and white, they seldom are. What is clear from the article is that there are strings attached, that this loan is part of a re-structuring process including the import of "foreign" experts to put the business back on a sound economic footing.
The same would happen IF such government assistance were to be allowed. It would certainly not happen automatically and the government would have to ask permission from the EU to help.
The situation in Malta seems to be entirely different, there is essentially only one carrier whereas there are other carriers here that could and would take up the reins. Either way, the restructuring package would change the airline forever, the naive conceit that everything would be as it was before is both dangerous and stupid.