Azul confirmed making an offer this month to combine with Chile's LATAM Airlines Group, which is in bankruptcy proceedings, but the Brazilian airline said it had since decided to focus on its own operations. LATAM shares plunged on Monday by as much as 85% in Santiago trading, before paring losses to around 45%. The Brazilian airline said its non-binding proposal submitted on Nov. 11 had included around $5b in equity financing and was backed by some creditors of LATAM. However, Azul added that LATAM's valuation in the bankruptcy proceedings had become higher than it found acceptable, citing ongoing uncertainty in the aviation industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in long-haul markets. LATAM filed a reorganization plan on Friday in which it proposed an $8.19b infusion of capital into the group in a bid to exit its Chapter 11 bankruptcy. read more The Chilean company previously said it had received several offers to fund the exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, each of which was worth more than $5b. Azul said in its filing that it believed its non-binding proposal would have provided significant increased network growth and generated synergies estimated at more than $4b. It added that "the standalone plan presented by LATAM is, by definition, unable to generate synergies from a combination".<br/>
unaligned
Shares of LATAM Airlines plunged on the Chilean stock exchange on Monday after an announcement by the indebted carrier over the weekend of a restructuring plan that would dilute shares in the company. The airlines' shares collapsed by almost 85% in early trading. On Friday the firm said it had filed a reorganization plan, proposing an $8.19b infusion of capital into the group, in a bid to exit its Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The financing proposal will include a mix of new equity, convertible notes and debt, the group said in a statement, adding that it intends to launch an $800m equity rights offering to shareholders upon confirmation of the plan.<br/>
Ryanair Group CE Michael O’Leary said Tuesday he saw no reason to cancel flights because of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and his airline’s flights were heavily booked for the next few weeks. “We are not cancelling any flights...I don’t see that (Omicron) as a justifiable reason to prevent people who are vaccinated or have negative PCRs” from travelling, he told a news conference in Lisbon. “We frankly don’t think there is risk to air travel within Europe from those people,” he said, adding though that Ryanair was worried about some countries potentially shutting air travel, as was the case of Morocco.<br/>
African start-up carrier Zambia Airways is set to commence domestic services on 1 December, operating from the capital Lusaka to the city of Ndola. The carrier is being set up in partnership with Ethiopian Airlines, which has a 45% share in the venture, while Industrial Development Corporation holds the 55% balance. Ethiopian Airlines says the shareholders have contributed $30m to establish the new carrier. It adds that it has “finalised preparations” for the launch of Zambia Airways, which will serve both Ndola and Livingstone with six and five weekly frequencies respectively. Industrial Development Corporation, which previously indicated that the airline would commence commercial operations on 30 September, has been showing off a Bombardier turboprop carrying Zambia Airways livery. Zambia Airways will expand its network to Mfuwer and Solwezi, before opening trunk routes to Johannesburg and Harare in the first quarter of next year. “Ethiopian is committed to its growth plan in collaboration with African carriers and the new Zambia Airways will serve as a strong hub in Central and Southern Africa,” says Ethiopian CE Tewolde Gebremariam. He says the new airline will ultimately provide connectivity to destinations in the Middle East, Europe and Asia.<br/>
Shareholders nearly unanimously approved a three-part recapitalisation package for Asia Aviation Public Limited Company, the parent company of Thai AirAsia, during an extraordinary general meeting on November 26, 2021. The holding company is planning to raise a total of 14b baht (US$415m) divided into three parts (story has details). All of the resolutions for the individual parts of the recapitalisation package were approved by more than 99% of voting shareholders. The carrier expects to receive the first tranche of 11b in December 2021 and the remainder of the funds in January 2022. Asia Aviation initially planned to list Thai AirAsia on the Stock Exchange of Thailand as a new entity and subsequently close the parent holding. However, the plan was later abandoned in favour of the now-accepted recapitalisation plan which foresees Asia Aviation acquiring all shares of Thai AirAsia from AirAsia Aviation Limited - currently, the Thai parent holding owns a 55% stake and the Malaysian group 45%.<br/>