AirAsia Group Berhad has announced that it has received the approval from Danajamin Nasional Berhad (Danajamin) for an 80% guaranteed loan of up to RM500 million under the Danajamin Prihatin Guarantee Scheme, which is part of Malaysia’s Economic Stimulus Package.
The loan has been approved by AAGB’s lenders under a club deal term financing (Club Facility), with the guarantee be provided for the Club Facility by Danajamin via Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan (SJPP), a wholly-owned entity of the Ministry of Finance, Government of Malaysia.
According to the group, the financing is earmarked for working capital purposes, which will be used to support staff costs and key operating expenses such as aircraft maintenance.
Executive Chairman, Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, said: “This approval from the Malaysian government is a strong endorsement of AirAsia Group’s ability to recover fast and provides a welcome boost to our overall fundraising strategy as we prepare to return to the skies in all of our key markets.
AirAsia which has been beleagured by the pandemic is hopeful on the recovery initaitives taken by the country including those in the region which have begun to reopen international borders. This is credited to progress in vaccination rates, in Malaysia’s adult vaccination rate is close to 90%, and domestic interstate movements will be allowed once the that milestone is reached.
Langkawi travel bubble which started on September 16 was a test project and showed success which led to Malaysians flying again. AirAsia had its flight fully booked and continues to see daily bookigns. The airline is also seeing similar trends in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, as services have gradually started to resume.
