Singapore Airlines has revealed that it secured an additional $1 billion in credit facilities to help the carrier deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the media reported.
This is in addition to the $6.32 billion it raised for a rights issue.
Singapore Airlines had raised around S$900 million through loans on some of its aircraft. Besides that, it also arranged new lines of credit and a short-term loan of around S$500 million with several banks for further liquidity.
The carrier said in a statement, “During this period of high uncertainty, Singapore Airlines will continue to explore additional means to shore up liquidity as necessary.”
A recent media report suggests that Singapore Airlines will not let go of any of its employees as it weathers the coronavirus crisis.
Singapore Airlines cancelled most of its operations earlier this year to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. However, Singapore Airlines and its subsidiary SilkAir have restored some flights this month and are operating at 6 percent of capacity.
A report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) revealed that the global aviation sector would lose around $314 billion in revenue this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In the month of March, the carrier raised around S$19 billion in funding to help the carrier deal with the global lockdown caused by the novel coronavirus, media reports said.
Temasek, which is Singapore Airlines’ biggest shareholder, revealed that it would underwrite the sale of shares and convertible bonds for up to S$15 billion to help the carrier fight the coronavirus.
The additional S$4 billion would be secured in the form of a loan by the carrier from DBS Bank.