Singapore Airlines has raised an additional $750m from long-term loans secured on some of its Airbus A-350-900 and Boeing 787-10 planes, the carrier said Thursday. SIA has now raised about $11b in liquidity since the start of its 2020-21 financial year in April, as it grapples with the impact of Covid-19 on the aviation sector. This sum comprises $8.8b from a rights issue backed by Temasek, $1.65b from secured financing and more than $500m from new committed lines of credit as well as a short-term unsecured loan from financial institutions. SIA added that all existing committed lines of credit that were due to mature this year have been renewed until next year or later. This, together with new committed lines of credit, ensures continued access to more than $2.1b in liquidity. "During this period of high uncertainty, SIA will continue to explore additional means to shore up liquidity as necessary," it said.<br/>
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All conditions for a rescue plan for South African Airways have been met, apart from a guarantee letter lenders need from the government, the state-owned airline’s administrators said on Thursday. The administrators will ask creditors at a meeting on Friday for the letter, stating that state guarantees will remain in force until the lenders’ claims are paid out in full, to be agreed by July 27, later than a previous deadline. The administrators took over SAA in December after almost a decade of financial losses and published their restructuring plan for SAA last month, after repeated delays and fierce wrangling over the airline’s future. Their plan envisages scaling back the airline’s fleet and shedding jobs, but it needs at least 10b rand ($600m) of new funds to work, and the government has not yet said where it will find the money. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said in court papers this week that he had not promised state funds for the rescue plan and that the government was still exploring options like approaching institutions to invest pension funds.<br/>
Air New Zealand is ramping up its domestic schedule for August, returning capacity to 70% pre-pandemic levels. The airline had been planning to operate around 55 per cent of its usual domestic capacity during August. An extra 400 flights will be available in August. Air NZ general manager networks Scott Carr says the airline has been pleasantly surprised with demand for domestic travel. "As a result of demand, we've added or upgauged more than 400 one-way flights in August. This includes operating an additional 408 one-way flights and 18 flights which have been upgauged to a larger aircraft." Domestic air travel has rebounded more quickly than forecast meaning a 180-degree turn at Air New Zealand on some roles. The airline's CE Greg Foran last month told staff that 100 cabin crew on its domestic jet and turbo prop fleet have had their redundancies rescinded.<br/>
Air New Zealand says Queenstown Airport’s infrastructure is insufficient for long-term growth and a proposal to build a new international airport in Central Otago “deserves consideration”. And the Board of Airline Representatives (Barnz), which represents most airlines operating in New Zealand, has given the proposal “an initial green light” saying airlines will be able to “fill every flight” into the region. On Wednesday Christchurch International Airport said it planned to build a new international airport on 750 hectares near the small town of Tarras in Central Otago – about one-hour’s drive from the existing Queenstown Airport and five hours drive from Christchurch. Christchurch Airport, which is 75% owned by Christchurch City Council and 25% owned by the Government, has already spent $45m on the project – which included buying land next to State Highway 8 and 8A. The airport plan includes starting with a 2.2 kilometre runway, long enough for A320 jets but not long enough for larger long-haul jets such as Boeing 777 or Airbus A380.<br/>