Leading Philippines carrier, Cebu Pacific (CEB), announced today it intends to raise US$500 million in fresh capital to strengthen its balance sheet and ensure it was “well-positioned to recover from the impact of COVID-19”. The LCC said the capital raising would be US$250 million from an issue of new convertible preferred shares and US$250 million from a sale of convertible bonds. "We need to create a longer runway for CEB to continue to provide affordable and accessible air transport services," President and CEO of Cebu Pacific and JG Summit Holdings, Lance Gokongwei, said. Read More »
Gokongwei said JB Summit, which owns 67% of CEB, would take up its entitlement under the convertible preferred share offer and any shares not taken up by the airline's other shareholders. "We strongly believe in the airline's vital mission of providing fundamental and value for money air travel in and out of our country and its crucial role as a driver of economic growth," Gokongwei said. The convertible bonds will be offered to a limited number of reputable international investors, CEB said.
Travel data company, OAG, said a survey of 4,000 users of its flightview travel app found 69% of respondents intended to fly internationally within the next six months and 79% had domestic travel plans. OAG chief analyst, John Grant, said the survey showed most consumers, especially younger travellers, were prepared to fly under the right circumstances. "The lack of fear is certainly surprising and bodes well for the market recovery,” Grant said. Full recovery will be driven by how well we fight the pandemic globally and when travel restrictions are safely lifted.”
Singapore Airlines (SIA) and SilkAir have added four destinations to their route network. SIA plans to resume nonstop flights from Singapore to Bandar Seri Begawan and Fukuoka in November and SilkAir is scheduled to begin flying to Kathmandu later this month and to Male from December. There also were frequency increases on several routes, SIA said on its website. The airline group's passenger capacity was expected to reach 15% of pre-COVID-19 levels by the end of December, it said.
South Korean LCC, T'Way, will resume nonstop flights to Japan from early November, the Yonhap News Agency has reported. The airline has scheduled a once week Seoul Incheon-Osaka route starting on November 5 and also a once weekly Seoul Incheon-Tokyo service from November 6. T'Way soon to operate to Fukuoka and Nagoya.
Korean Air (KAL) said yesterday it had established a COVID-19 vaccine transport task force to prepare for the safe and swift transport of a vaccine for the coronavirus when it became available. “Korean Air’s task force is reviewing all aspects concerning the vaccine’s transport and will develop a strong system and infrastructure for its safe and swift distribution when it’s ready to be delivered,” KAL senior vice president and head of cargo business division, Eum Jae Dong, said in a statement. KAL has been certified by the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) Center of Excellence for Independent Validators on Pharmaceutical Handling (CEIV Pharma).
Garuda Indonesia has commenced A330-300 cargo flights from Makassar to Singapore. The once weekly cargo service, which began on Monday, had a freight capacity of 40 tons and would "strengthen the competitiveness of national export commodities in eastern Indonesia, especially through the direct flight accessibility to Singapore as one of the biggest importers in Southeast Asia", Garuda Indonesia CEO, Irfan Setiaputra, said in a statement.
