Thailand's Nok Air accelerates restructuring process

Following the Stock Exchange of Thailand warning of a possible delisting, Nok Air is ramping up its restructuring efforts. The new strategies, announced in a September 16 filing to the SET, go beyond the steps agreed to under the court-supervised business rehabilitation process that the airline is currently working through. Nok Air CEO Wutthiphum Jurangkool said in the filing that a fresh focus on capital restructuring, debt restructuring, and some operational changes would avoid the possibility of delisting and deliver better value for shareholders, including parent company Thai Airways International (TG, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi). "The Company has plans for capital restructuring by increasing the capital according to the rehabilitation plan to ensure that the Company’s business will resume efficiently and get the most benefit, which will drive the shareholder equity to become greater than zero," said the CEO. The debt restructuring process will now include an "improvement of fleet and type of aircraft utilization," with a bigger focus on international routes to target larger revenues, including opening a new route to Taipei Taoyuan and unspecified cities in India by the end of 2022. Frequencies on existing international sectors to Ho Chi Minh City and Yangon are also increasing. Presently, between 85%-90% of Nok's passengers are Thai locals, a customer base the CEO wants to broaden.<br/>