Eastar Jet graduates from court-led debt rescheduling program

Eastar Jet Co., a South Korean low-cost carrier, said Tuesday it has graduated from the court-led debt-rescheduling program in one year after it was placed under court receivership amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Eastar applied for court receivership in January 2021 as it had failed to find a strategic investor since July 2020, when Jeju Air, the country's biggest budget carrier, scrapped its plan to acquire Eastar amid the pandemic. In November, local property developer Sung Jung acquired an entire stake in Eastar through a rights issue following the budget carrier's overall stock cancellation worth 48.5b won (US$40m). Sung Jung has injected a total of 112b won into Eastar and still has ample cash to help the carrier ride out the prolonged pandemic, Eastar President and CEO Kim You-sang said last month.<br/>