Malaysia’s AirAsia X gains more time to stage creditor meets

Malaysia’s High Court has granted AirAsia X (D7, Kuala Lumpur Int’l) a further extension of the restraining order on 15 of its creditors which it previously allowed in February and then extended in June, to assist the carrier with its ongoing restructuring.

The airline had been supposed to hold meetings with the creditors by the end of this month at the latest.

“On behalf of the board of directors of AAX, [stockbroker] Mercury Securities wishes to announce that […] the High Court of Malaya at Kuala Lumpur had on September 15, 2021, granted an order for, amongst others, an extension of time until March 17, 2022, for AAX to convene separate meetings of the creditors for the purpose of considering and, if thought fit, approving” the debt restructuring AirAsia X plans to propose, the airline said in a bourse filing without further elaboration.

In February, the court gave the AirAsia Group low-cost long-haul carrier 180 days to convene separate meetings with various groups of creditors to vote on its proposal. The court had divided the 14 creditors into three groups, one for Malaysia Airports, another for Airbus, and the third for the other creditors.

This followed AirAsia X proposing to its creditors in October 2020 to restructure about MYR63.5 billion ringgit (USD15.3 billion) in liabilities to a principal amount of up to MYR200 million (USD48 million), warning that the only alternative was liquidation with no returns. The airline will need approval at the meetings representing at least 75% of the money owed, but some of the creditors have reportedly objected to the scheme.