| |
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
TOKYO: American Airlines, the oneworld alliance and private equity firm TPG on Thursday offered to invest US$1.1 billion in struggling Japan Airlines (JAL).
The US carrier said at a Tokyo press conference that their total financial assistance, including the revenues the investment would generate, would be worth more than US$1.8 billion.
In a statement, they said that "the total incremental financial support from American, oneworld and TPG is in excess of US$1.8 billion and far exceeds any other available proposition."
JAL, Asia's biggest carrier, has been hovering on the brink of bankruptcy in a crisis blamed on its huge pension costs, mismanagement and the wider aviation industry downturn caused by the worldwide economic slump.
American Airlines and its rival Delta Air Lines have both sought to buy stakes in JAL, which is seeking to restructure under the supervision of the state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan.
Delta Air Lines, the world's largest carrier and a member of the SkyTeam group of airlines, has previously announced an offer of a financial package worth more than US$1 billion for JAL.
Delta president Edward Bastian, who was also in Tokyo Thursday, said the company and its global alliance partners are ready to offer third-party additional funds to JAL, Kyodo news agency reported.
"If there was interest by the government in raising more money than that (US$1 billion package) by introducing outside, third-party investors, we would be happy to support that effort as well," he was quoted as saying.
- AFP/yb
|
