Air France-KLM announced the full repayment of its bank loan guaranteed by the French State (“PGE”), making a final step towards the full repayment of States support liquidity measures.
Air France-KLM has fully repaid the remaining €2.5 billion from its initial €4 billion Bank loan guaranteed by the French State, granted during the Covid-19 crisis.The Group’s solid cash position combined with the €1 billion proceeds of the Sustainability-Linked Bond issued in January 2023, has enabled to accelerate and close the repayment in full of the outstanding “PGE”.This full repayment will contribute to smoothing the Group’s debt profile, reduce financial costs and limit residual exposure to floating rates.
In 2022, Air France-KLM recorded a strong rebound of its revenues, an improved operating result and a positive net income resulting in a strong cash position of €10.6 billion by the end of 2022. On the back of this robust operational performance, the Group successfully issued in January 2023 an inaugural Sustainability-Linked Bond for a total aggregate amount of €1.0 billion.
Given this context, Air France-KLM has now reached an agreement with the French State and the syndicate of nine banks participating in the “PGE” to proceed with the full repayment of the outstanding €2.5 billion, as announced during the FY 2022 results presentation on February 17th, 2023. To do so, the Group used the €1.0 billion proceeds of the Sustainability-Linked Bond and €1.5 billion of its available cash. This full repayment will contribute to smoothing the Group’s debt profile, reduce financial costs and limit residual exposure to floating rates, and marks a final step towards the full repayment of the current French State liquidity support measures.