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Air New Zealand receives more government support
December 16th 2021
The New Zealand government has boosted its support for Air New Zealand (Air NZ) by NZ$500 million (US$337 million) to help the airline cope with ongoing uncertainty from COVID-19. Read More » The New Zealand carrier said the additional liquidity will leave it better positioned ahead of a planned recapitalisation. The agreement gives Air NZ the ability to issue up to NZ$1 billion of non-voting redeemable shares to the government and reduces an existing facility from NZ$1.5 billion to NZ$1 billion. In August, the airline deferred an equity raising until the first quarter of 2022. “Since that announcement, the airline has been impacted by recent domestic lockdowns and the ongoing COVID-related travel restrictions across its network,’’ Air NZ said in a market statement yesterday. While the New Zealand government has recently outlined a plan for the phased opening of international borders from early next year, the airline said the future impacts of COVID “remain uncertain and circumstances continue to change all over the world”.
