Former transport minister Camiel Eurlings has, for the first time, commented on suggestions that he was given a top job at KLM because of his previous role as minister.

The issue was raised again this week after it emerged Eurlings had agreed to relax the state guarantees drawn up when the Dutch flag carrier merged with Air France in 2003.

The suggestion that the relaxation of the guarantees had a role in his appointment are ‘factually inaccurate’, Eurling’s spokesman Jack de Vries says in Thursday’s Volkskrant.

Eurlings joined the KLM board in 2010 shortly after his surprise decision to quit politics to ‘start a family’. He had been tipped by many as a potential successor to Jan Pieter Balkenende as CDA leader.  Eurlings became president and CEO of KLM in July 2013 but stood down last year after his contract was not renewed.

Earlier this week, the Volkskrant said that little is left of guarantees struck by the Dutch government with Air France when it took over KLM. This means the airline management have a free hand to scrap KLM flights from Schiphol airport or shift them to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, the paper said.

Sources told the paper Eurlings left KLM because he was a weak leader.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Eurlings has been a member of the board of directors at American Express’s global business travel unit since January.