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Unsecured creditors of SAS had been dissatisfied with a previous version of the carrier’s US Chapter 11 re-organisation plan, and agreed to the latest revision after “hard-fought” discussions, court filings show. The 5 February filing states that treatment of general unsecured creditors in the plan had raised “significant concerns”. These concerns centred mainly on proper allocation of distributable value from claims against various entities in the bankruptcy case – including parent SAS AB – and contribution of around $220m of distributable value into a trust to pay for potential governmental non-tax claims. The non-tax claims are based on interest owned arising from state aid which was received in 2020, but which has been deemed incompatible under European Union law. Under the previous Chapter 11 plan, says the filing, the “lengthy process” required to resolve these non-tax claims meant unsecured creditors would not have received the “lion’s share” of their distributions for “nearly a decade – if at all”. It adds that weeks of “extensive, hard-fought negotiations” between SAS and investors have been held in order to “reconcile tensions” between US bankruptcy law and EU law, examine “novel questions” of Danish and Swedish law, and analyse laws regarding securities, tax and trusts in various jurisdictions. The filing says the latest Chapter 11 plan provides “numerous benefits” to general unsecured creditors including increasing the initial distributable value to them by around $7.2 million, and fairly allocating the value among various SAS-affiliated entities in the bankruptcy. It also develops a legal strategy for determining the amount of governmental non-tax claims.<br/>

Swedish carrier Braathens Regional Airlines is to conduct wet-leased services on behalf of Lufthansa Group member Austrian Airlines over the course of this summer season. Austrian is recruiting BRA to operate a number of routes on which traffic has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. “To continue connecting these routes to our Vienna hub in the future, we need adjusted capacity structures,” says Austrian chief commercial officer Michael Trestl. BRA will take over routes served by Embraer 195s. The regional jets will be replaced completely by ATR 72 turboprops for flights to Klagenfurt, Kosice and Leipzig. Austrian states that there will also be “partial” replacement by ATRs on services to Belgrade, Bologna, Graz, Warsaw and Zagreb. The carrier says the co-operation with BRA will enhance efficiency and cost-effectiveness, providing more sustainable network connections. “Slow recovery of business travel demand results in a lower demand level, necessitating adjusted capacity structures for economically-viable operations,” it adds. “On board, passengers can expect the familiar Austrian Airlines catering product, and both business- and economy-class seats will be offered.”<br/>

Korea’s low-cost carriers surpassed the nation's two full-service carriers for the first time ever in terms of the combined number of international passengers in 2023, according to data, Thursday. Data from an air portal system gathered by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport showed the number of international flight passengers who used the nation’s nine LCCs – including Jeju Air, Jin Air and T’way Air – reached 24.19m last year, beating Korean Air and Asiana Airlines combined by more than 1m during the same period. This marked the first time since 2003 that LCCs carried more passengers on international flights than the two FSCs. The nation’s first LCC began operations that year. This was driven by passengers’ growing demand for short- and mid-haul flights to Japan and Southeast Asian nations, such as Vietnam and Thailand. The trend is evident after air travel was resumed following the years-long COVID-19-triggered shutdowns. The post-pandemic interest rate hikes and high inflationary pressure also raised demand for cheaper overseas travel to nearby regions. Japan topped the list in terms of the number of passengers from LCCs last year. More than 19.38 million travelers visited the country via flights from LCCs, and Vietnam followed the list with 8.74m during the same period. More than 4m passengers here also took a flight to Thailand last year alone. Officials from LCCs said they will continue the momentum throughout this year by widening routes to mid- to short-distance regions. “Even if competition is widely expected to toughen for the routes among existing LCCs, the pace of passenger growth will remain solid in the foreseeable future,” an official from a local LCC said.<br/>