CASH STRAPPED AIRLINE RESORTS TO AIRCRAFT SALE TO BOOST CASH POSITION
(Posted 13th July 2020)
Information received from Port Louis suggests that, given the unsustainable cash position of national airline Air Mauritius, the company decided to put several aircraft up for sale.
Among the planes now advertised for sale – offers must be submitted by the 11th of August – are two of the airline’s ageing Airbus A340’s, an Airbus A319 and an Airbus A330-200.
It is not clear if the airline intends to lease back some or all of these aircraft, should a buyer be found at acceptably offers, not something which is going to be easy given the slow pace of aviation recovery in the wake of the global #COVID19 pandemic.
The airline was promised a cash injection by the Mauritius government, but far less than was required to meet financial commitments and in a worst case scenario could Air Mauritius go broke. The carrier has been in voluntary administration since the 22nd of April and the debt burden is estimated to be over 9.5 billion Mauritius Rupees.
Creditors are also torn over proposals to let Air Mauritius go under and form a new national airline which could rob them of their dues and subsequently prevent them with doing business with the new company, should government decide to proceed into that direction.
