Air Canada and the Canadian Government have reached a series of debt and equity financing agreements, which will allow the airline to obtain up to $ 5.879 million in liquidity through the Emergency Financing Facility Program (LEEFF), as announced by the company.
“Air Canada entered the pandemic more than a year ago with one of the strongest balance sheets in the global airline industry relative to its size. Since then, we have raised an additional $ 6.8 billion in liquidity from our own resources to sustain ourselves through the pandemic as air traffic has virtually stopped in Canada and internationally,” said Michael Rousseau, President and CEO of Air Canada.
“The additional liquidity program we announced today achieves several aligned goals by providing a significant layer of insurance for Air Canada, allowing us to better address customer ticket refunds, maintain our workforce and re-enter regional markets. Importantly, this program provides additional liquidity, if necessary, to rebuild our business for the benefit of all stakeholders and to remain a significant contributor to the Canadian economy through its recovery and in the long term.”
“As vaccine deployments increase, we continue to work with the Government of Canada to evolve safe, science-based testing and quarantine relief measures with a view to safely restarting our industry. We know Canadians look forward to reconnecting with friends and family and taking those long-awaited vacations and business trips and we will be ready to safely connect Canadians within Canada and Canada to the world,” concluded Rousseau.