Singapore Airlines (SIA) has raised S$10 billion (US$7.1 billion) in liquidity through its recent rights issue, as well as a mix of secured and unsecured credit facilities, putting the national carrier “on a steady footing” to weather the Covid-19 storm.
On top of the S$8.8 billion the company secured via a rights issue on June 5, which was backed by Temasek Holdings, a further S$900 million was raised through long term loans secured on some of the airline’s Airbus A350-900 and Boeing 787-10 aircraft.
The total of S$10 billion in financing secured by SIA is among the largest raised by any carrier to tackle the global pandemic.
In addition, the company said that it has also arranged new committed lines of credit and a short-term unsecured loan with several banks, which provide further fresh liquidity amounting to more than S$500 million.
As well, the maturity dates of all its existing committed lines of credit have been extended till 2021 or later, ensuring continued access to more than S$1.7 billion in liquidity, it added.
For the period up to July 2021, the company also retains the option to raise up to a further S$6.2 billion in additional mandatory convertible bonds, which will provide additional liquidity if necessary.
SIA also said that it “will continue to explore additional means to shore up liquidity as necessary” amid these uncertain times.
