This archive report was first published on 5 May 2020.
Qantas Airways has secured $550 million in debt funding against three of its Boeing 787-9 aircraft, a move that comes as the airline continues to struggle in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Published on May 5, 2020, this funding follows a previous $1.05 billion raised in March against seven of its Boeing 787-9s.
According to the airline, they now have “sufficient liquidity to respond to a range of recovery scenarios, including one where the current trading conditions persist until at least December 2021”.
However, the airline is still anticipating a net cash burn rate of $40 million per week to the end of June this year, forcing the airline to extend flight cancellations to the end of July and keep its 20,000 employees on temporary compulsory leave until at least the end of June.
As airlines worldwide struggle to remain afloat, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) estimates that airlines worldwide could face losses amounting to $253 billion by September this year due to COVID-19, with passengers reducing by 1.2 billion.
Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia and is the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations.
