PAL earns ‘double victory’ for 2 financial restructure citations
PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) earned a double victory in two awards from Europe-based international publications the “Asia Pacific Restructuring Deal of the Year” honors from Airline Economics magazine and the Airfinance Journal “Deal of the Year” award for the airline’s pre-negotiated Chapter 11 restructuring agreements in 2021.
The twin awards recognized the success of PAL’s financial restructuring through a breakthrough series of cross-border agreements with major aircraft and bank creditors, aviation manufacturers, and other stakeholders.
The deals, coupled with the infusion of US$505 million in fresh capital from PAL’s shareholder family, enabled the Philippine flag carrier to rebound from the pandemic with reduced debt, additional liquidity, and better positioned for long-term growth.
PAL Senior Financial Advisor Ian Reid accepted the awards at the respective awarding ceremonies held recently in Dublin, Ireland.
PAL President and COO (Chief Operating Officer) Capt. Stanley Ng expressed delight over the twin awards: “We are grateful for this honor, and we thank the hard work of the PAL team, the all-out support of stakeholders, and the determination of our Chairman, Dr. Lucio C. Tan, to strengthen PAL to meet the challenges of the future. We will not rest on our laurels, but we will persevere in our efforts to complete PAL’s recovery and reclaim its place in the aviation world. We dedicate these efforts to our customers and the Filipino people whom we are committed to serve as best as we can.”
The Airline Economics Aviation 100 Awards reward resilience and ingenuity in a challenging environment for the worldwide aviation industry.
Airline Economics is the flagship publication owned by Aviation News Ltd and dedicated to the commercial aviation finance and leasing industry.
Victoria Tozer-Pennington, Editor and co-founder of Aviation News Ltd and Airline Economics, said, “The Aviation 100 Awards celebrate the diligence and commitment of aviation executives and financiers that have supported the industry throughout one of the industry’s darkest periods. For our ‘Deals of the Year’ awards, we received in excess of 150 nominations for aviation finance and leasing transactions to consider for very few award categories.”
“The volume and innovation displayed in those nominations made the judging process even more difficult but it also highlighted the record levels of financial support airlines and lessors have received over the past year. The deals we have selected in our annual awards reflect the hard work and creativity of the aviation finance community. Congratulations to all of our winners and nominees,” Tozer-Pennington added.
Airfinance Journal Awards 2021 considered 30 categories across several regions. PAL’s Chapter 11 cross-border restructuring won as the “Deal of the Year” for the Asia Pacific region. By Jun I. Legaspi
