Air France-KLM has taken a first step in repaying the E4b French state-backed bank loan it secured during the Covid crisis by redeeming €500 million of it. The SkyTeam carrier group has also amended the payment reschedule of the loan, switching from an initial single redemption originally due in May 2023 to three repayments to be paid by May 2025. It will now redeem E800m of the loan in May 2023, followed by repayments of E1.35b in May 2024 and 2025 respectively. Air France-KLM cites a combination of the “early signs of a recovery” in global traffic together with improved access to capital markets for the decision to repay E500m of the loan. ”This partial redemption combined with the now amortized redemption profile of the PGE [French state loan] is a new milestone on the restructuring path of the debt profile and of the balance sheet of the Air France-KLM Group.” Air France-KLM adds that it is still in discussions on possible capital strengthening moves. “These measures could include instruments such as the issuance of equity or quasi-equity instruments, depending on market conditions,” it says.<br/>
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Russian carriers including Aeroflot, S7 Group and Volga-Dnepr Airlines are to co-operate with Airbus and energy firm Gazprom to create an alliance to support development of sustainable aviation fuels. The Eurasian SAF Alliance aims to carry out the first biofuel-powered flight no later than 2024. Fuel specialist Gazprom Neft says the alliance will include Russia’s state civil aviation research institute and the Zhukovsky national research centre. It states that it intends to ensure the use of environmentally-friendly aviation fuel, in line with international standards, at Russian airports. Gazprom Neft, which will utilize its technology centre in St Petersburg, will produce experimental batches of sustainable fuel at its Moscow and Omsk refineries. Deputy chair Anatoly Cherner says the decarbonisation of aviation and the emergence of new regulations require “innovative technological solutions” to create low-carbon fuels. “Gazprom Neft is actively developing the segment of environmentally-friendly products for all types of transport,” he says, adding that the combination of airlines, airframers and scientific institutes will make the process of developing Russian biofuel “more efficient”.<br/>