Thai Air seeks $1.5b to keep flying as tourists return

Thai Airways International plans to raise as much as 50b baht ($1.5b) in new capital as the flag carrier expands flights with the country reopening its borders to foreign tourists. The airline will borrow 25b baht from existing creditors and other financial institutions, said Piyasvasti Amranand, a member of the panel overseeing a court-monitored debt rehabilitation plan. It is also seeking 25b baht from the government, its biggest shareholder, he said. “Our biggest problem is liquidity. We need cash to run our operations,” Piyasvasti said Monday. “We have emphasized the need for new capital to creditors. We are confident that Thai Air’s earnings will rebound sharply with big profit after the Covid-19 pandemic passes.” Thai Air is betting on the return of foreign visitors to the tourism-reliant country to help it emerge successfully from the court-mandated restructuring of at least 170 billion baht of debt. The airline has frozen loan payments and delayed bond repayments under the court approved plan after the pandemic-triggered collapse in global travel deepened losses at the airline to a record. <br/>