Air Macau will be getting a capital injection of 507.3 million Macau pataca ($63 million) from its shareholders to keep it afloat.
Chinese flag carrier Air China, which owns 51% of the airline, says in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that the only other option available to the shareholders was to dissolve the company under to Macau laws.
Air Macau's other major shareholders are TAP Portugal with 20%, the island's main casino operator STDM [14%], and the government of Macau [5%]. The capital injection will not affect the percentage of the various holdings in Air Macau,
The airline, which had been suffering losses for several years, saw its net asset value decline to negative 107.3 million Macau pataca at the end of 2008. The capital injection is expected to raise that to 400 million Macau pataca, says Air China.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news