Sweden’s national debt office has given a guarantee for a SKr200m ($24m) loan intended for Braathens Regional Airways. The guarantee covers 90% of the principal for the loan, which will run for five years. Sweden’s government has mandated the debt office to provide the guarantees to mitigate the economic effects of the pandemic. BRA’s guarantee is the second to be provided under the programme for supporting airlines – the first having been issued on behalf of SAS. SAS has since repaid the loan, says the debt office. BRA suspended operations earlier this year in order to undertake a “reconstruction” of the company.<br/>
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Israeli carrier Israir’s sale trustee has sought formal approval from a Tel Aviv court for the acquisition offer put forward by bidder BGI Investments. BGI Investments is a division of the company Shai Odem, controlled by retail entrepreneur Rami Levy and business partner Shalom Haim. After a drawn-out contest for the rights to take over Israir from its parent IDB, bondholders convincingly selected the BGI offer on 29 December. The trustee has submitted this decision to the court with a request for its approval of the BGI proposal – nearly a month after similar approval was sought for an earlier BGI bid, before the sale process was interrupted by late rival bid submissions. Given that BGI’s offer was favoured by more than 75% of the bondholders and taking into account the nature of the bid, the trustee believes there is no need to hold a formal hearing on the process. It says it is seeking approval “urgently” given the “challenging environment” in which Israir, with its 400 employees, is operating. There is a need, it says, to transfer Israir to a controlling shareholder that can support the company, satisfy its requirements and maximise its value.<br/>
IndiGo said some segments of its data servers were breached in a hacking incident in December, which may compromise some data. “There is a possibility that some internal documents may get uploaded by the hackers on public websites and platforms,” IndiGo said in a statement Thursday. “We realise the seriousness of the issue, and are continuing to engage with all relevant experts and law enforcement to ensure that the incident is investigated in detail.” The setback comes just as the airline, operated by InterGlobe Aviation, could start slowly rehiring staff. Domestic services will probably return to pre-pandemic levels by January or February as capacity rebuilds from “the background of carnage” caused by Covid-19, CEO Ronojoy Dutta said in December. IndiGo, which has some 730 Airbus SE A320neo planes on order, laid off about 10% of its workforce due to the pandemic-driven slowdown. The carrier in August announced a share sale to bring in as much as 40b rupees ($547m) and isn’t looking to raise more funds. IndiGo’s strategy remains focused on reducing costs and rapidly growing its operations, Dutta said.<br/>
Papua New Guinea’s state-owned Air Niugini is to receive operational funding via Kumul Consolidated Holdings, the holding company of the country’s nine state-owned enterprises. The state aid for the airline was a portion of PGK50m kina (US$14.2m) transferred from the Motor Vehicle Insurance, one of few SOEs in the country that was performing well financially, PM James Marape told local media. This followed a Cabinet decision that MVIL should support Air Niugini, which continued to struggle operationally due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. “MVIL was posting substantial yields. KCH will support Air Niugini to ensure the airline is given enough input of liquidity to keep its operations running, as we sail past 2020 and hopefully, that should resuscitate its operations for a better 2021,” Marape said. “The business reform that is currently taking place in Air Niugini will ensure (that) it stands on its own feet and makes a profit again.” <br/>