Singapore Airlines is poised for another hefty quarterly loss after the coronavirus left it flying a tiny fraction of its usual number of passengers. The airline warned this month that it expects a material operating loss in its fiscal Q1. It already suffered a record net loss of S$732m (US$530m) in the three months through March, when it was hit by fuel-hedging losses as well as a collapse in demand triggered by the outbreak. That left the carrier with its first annual loss in its 48-year history. The net loss could widen to S$1.2b for the quarter through June and revenue may slump 87% because of a 96% drop in capacity, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts James Teo and Chris Muckensturm. Fuel-hedging losses will again take a toll, and this time there are also S$124m in liquidation costs for NokScoot Airlines. Singapore Airlines owned a 49% stake in the low-cost Thai carrier that collapsed in June. SIA is in a particularly tight spot as it is dependent on international flights. The carrier and its SilkAir and Scoot units flew 17,700 passengers in June, compared with 3.2m a year earlier. “Progress towards a global lifting of border controls and travel restrictions, which could facilitate or result in the easier movement of travelers between countries, is slower than earlier expected,” SIA said on July 15. The airline will hold its AGM Monday morning and release a Q1 business update after trading hours on Wednesday.<br/>
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The Belgian government and Lufthansa have agreed on a rescue plan for struggling airline Brussels Airlines. The deal reached this week is made up of E290m in loans from the government and a capital injection of E170m euros by Lufthansa. Hard-hit by the coronavirus crisis, Brussels Airlines announced in May it was planning to cut a quarter of its workforce as part of a cost-cutting plan. The company said Friday that the rescue package will secure “tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs.” The plan, which needs to be approved by the EC and Germany’s economic stabilisation fund, also covers some of the losses triggered by the pandemic. Brussels Airlines said it lost E1m a day because of revenue losses, aircraft leasing and maintenance costs when its planes were grounded under the lockdown measures implemented to slow down the spread of the virus.<br/>
Creditors of South African Airways gave the government more time to find the money to fund a rescue of the bankrupt state-owned airline. At a meeting convened by the airline’s administrators, creditors voted to extend the deadline to July 27 from an initial deadline of July 22. If the money is not guaranteed by then, another creditors meeting will be held on July 30 to decide the way forward. The administrators have previously said the airline could be liquidated. The government has committed to “mobilize” the 10.1b rand ($603m). Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said that doesn’t mean the government will provide money and it will instead seek funding from private sources.<br/>
THAI has disclosed details of Bt85b ($2.7b) in creditor claims it received among others, citing these as “one of the reasons why the company has filed for the rehabilitation petition”. CIMB Thai Bank and Islamic Bank of Thailand requested in May the repayment of principal and interest due on promissory notes due the same month. These are in the principal amounts of Bt1b and Bt500m, respectively. Also in May, Thailand’s finance ministry demanded the June repayment of outstanding principal of an on-lent loan, amounting to E335m, since the company is no longer a state-owned enterprise. The carrier states that it has also defaulted on other creditor payments and has received letters demanding repayment “by other creditors who are business partners of the company”. The rest of the figure comes from all unredeemed debentures issued by the company, for which holders have demanded immediate repayment. These mature between June 2020 and November 2034, and have a collective face value of Bt71.6b.<br/>
HDC Hyundai Development appears to be leaning toward scrapping its plan to acquire Asiana as it demanded another round of due diligence on the carrier amid the new coronavirus outbreak, industry sources said Monday. HDC said Sunday it has sent a letter to Kumho Industrial, which owns a 30.77% stake in Asiana, to demand the additional due diligence on the country's second-biggest carrier. "In the letter, we proposed (additional) due diligence on Asiana Airlines and its affiliates for 12 weeks from mid-August in order to review the acquisition terms amid worsening business environments due to the pandemic," a company official said over the phone. The proposal comes one month after HDC called for renegotiations with Asiana creditors over the acquisition terms, describing the ongoing virus crisis as a "never expected and very negative factor" that will affect its planned takeover of the debt-ridden carrier. HDC then cited Asiana's snowballing debts as another reason for renegotiations, noting that debts are "damaging the acquisition value of the carrier." In response to HDC's request, Asiana said it has made all-out efforts to help complete the MA deal and will continue to carry out what is necessary to finalize the deal.<br/>