Airport Authority Hong Kong announces additional USD258m relief package for HKIA operators

Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) announced (08-Apr-2020) plans to offer an additional relief package valued at up to HKD2 billion (USD258 million) to operators at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) to help "ease their liquidity pressure". The authority will offer to purchase approximately 500,000 tickets in advance from Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon, Hong Kong Airlines and HK Express, which "will serve the purpose of injecting liquidity into the airlines upfront, while the tickets will be given away to global visitors and Hong Kong residents in the future market recovery campaign to be launched when the pandemic is over". AAHK will also offer to purchase ground services equipment from ground handling, maintenance, refuelling and catering operators at HKIA, and permit those operators to continue utilising the equipment rent free for a period. AAHK noted it is "also facing a significant shortfall in revenue because of the traffic plummet" at HKIA following the outbreak of coronavirus, so the Authority "will go to the financial market in the next two months to raise the necessary funds, in order to maintain its own liquidity for funding the airport operation and the committed capital projects". The loan will also be used to finance the additional relief package. [more - original PR]