Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) is requesting to extend the maturity dates of its two unsecured bonds in exchange of a security package backed by the attractive take-off and landing slots at London Gatwick Airport.
The company is requesting an extension for NAS07 and NAS08 to November 2021 and February 2022, respectively. The company will in exchange offer the unsecured bondholders a security package consisting of a pledge over all shares in Norwegian Air Norway AS (NAN), which will hold the attractive take-off and landing slots at London Gatwick Airport.
Norwegian’s Gatwick portfolio currently consists of take-off and landing slots which has an independent valuation from a well-reputed third-party in excess of the current nominal bond value for NAS07 and NAS08 of $380 million.
These are important operational rights for the Norwegian group, facilitating the feeding of passengers between our European short-haul network and intercontinental long-haul network, an important part of Norwegian’s profitability strategy going forward. Previous transactions in the market demonstrate the ability to monetise on slots at Gatwick.
Previous transactions in the market demonstrate the ability to monetise on slots at Gatwick.
The company’s operational performance continues to improve since its second quarter report in mid-July.
The company is on track to reach NOK 6-7 billion in EBITDAR in 2019 as stated in the Q2 2019 Report, with further improvement expected next year. This would be at all-time high levels, despite the well-known issues with Rolls-Royce engines on the company’s Dreamliners and the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max fleet.