Singapore Airlines (SIA) has raised around S$2 billion from completed sale-and-leaseback transactions involving 11 of its aircraft, according to a press release on May 3 by the airline.

The deals were arranged with four other parties, and involved seven Airbus SE A350-900s and four Boeing Co 787-10s.

The CEO of SIA, Goh Choon Phong, said:

“The additional liquidity from these sale-and-leaseback transactions reinforces our ability to navigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic from a position of strength."

SIA further said that it will continue to "explore additional means to raise liquidity as necessary" in this period of high uncertainty, as the airline industry continues to navigate the "unprecedented challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic".

SIA sees biggest drop in shares in two weeks amidst recent increase of Covid-19 cases

Separately, Bloomberg reported that SIA's shares dropped by about 3.2 per cent on the same day -- the most in about two weeks -- amidst the recent increase of Covid-19 cases.

Stock broker UOB Kay Hian Pte was quoted as saying that the new cases threatened the re-opening of Singapore's economy.

S$15.4 billion in liquidity has been raised since April 2020

The figure raised from the sale-and-leaseback transactions is part of a larger amount of S$15.4 billion in liquidity that has been raised since April 1 last year, the press release further stated.

This amount includes S$2.1 billion from secured financing, S$2 billion via the issuance of convertible bonds and notes, and over S$500 million from new credit lines and a short-term unsecured loan.

It also encompasses S$8.8 billion raised from a successful rights issue in June 2020.

According to The Business Times, S$7.1 billion out of this S$8.8 billion was spent by December 2020, on items such as operating expenses, ticket refunds and debt servicing.

SIA also said that it had access to more than S$2.1 million of undrawn credit lines and the option to raise up to S$6.2 billion in additional mandatory convertible bonds prior to its annual general meeting in July 2021.

Top image from SIA Facebook