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Thai AirAsia expects quick return to full domestic operations
October 21st 2021
Asia Aviation (AAV) executive chairman, Tassapon Bijleveld, expects Thai AirAsia (TAA) to return to 100% of normal domestic operations by January. Read More » Tassopon made the comment as he announced a plan to raise up to 17.9 billion baht (US$536 million) under a revised restructuring plan, including 14 billion baht secured by convertible bonds and new shares. Tassapon said the tourism and aviation businesses were recovering and the new shareholding restructuring plan, expected to be implemented in the first quarter of 2022, would expedite TAA’s rejuvenation. “From here, TAA will continue to increase flights and frequencies of services in response to growing customer demand,” he said. “Importantly, we expect to return to 100% of our normal domestic operations within January 2022. We also are looking forward to recommencing our key international routes in the near future in light of the Thai government’s country reopening plan.” The new restructuring proposal was announced after the AAV board said in a stock exchange filing it had explored every possible avenue to implement its previous plan but it had proved time consuming and complicated. In a statement issued Wednesday, the company said the revised plan would provide the working capital and liquidity needed to sustain the airline’s operations. It includes AAV raising 8.8 billion baht by increasing its registered capital and offering newly issued ordinary shares on a private placement. This will result in AirAsia Aviation Limited (AAA) being offered an additional investment of 7.8 billion baht and individual investors shareholdings of up to 1 billion baht. The plan requires another 2.2 billion baht to be raised from the sale of convertible bonds and 3 billion baht from a rights offering. Additionally, there are plans to secure loans worth 3.9 billion baht.
