UK Export Finance (UKEF) is in no rush to sell the aircraft that it repossessed from airlines during the pandemic, its senior restructuring officer for aviation Chris Leeds has said. Speaking during the Aviation Developments in Finance, Leasing and Insurance event in London on 20 March, Leeds said that out of a portfolio of 464 aircraft placed with 42 airlines and 12 lessors that the UK export credit agency had on its books at the start of the crisis, it ultimately repossessed 14 of them. UKEF is happy to "sit on those" aircraft with leases attached until a suitable moment presents itself to monetise those assets, Leeds observes. "At some point I imagine we will sell with lease attached, but we are in absolutely no hurry to do that and the deal will have to make sense," he adds. Leeds says that at the start of the pandemic UKEF implemented a policy called the common approach under which all airlines were offered a payment holiday for principal, but not the interest, for payments due by 31 March 2021 on loans that the ECA had guaranteed. Leeds was brought in by UKEF to handle this process and oversee negotiations with airlines. A number of airlines took up the offer, but others were unable or unwilling to meet these terms and Leeds says that UKEF consensually agreed to the repossession of some aircraft. He says that there was a perception among some airlines that the UKEF would be unwilling to consider repossessions, a perception that he believes was misplaced. The UK government-owned agency took the view that it would take a robust approach in its dealings with airlines amid the crisis. "A number of airlines had thought that as soon as they told us that if we don't do what they want, they are going to dump all their aircraft on us [and] we would run a mile," he says, adding: "If we showed an airline that we were more than happy to take the aircraft back, that strengthened our position." Leeds says the UKEF is happy to hold on to assets for as long as it takes to avoid incurring net losses on the UK taxpayer. He notes that after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 the ECA held onto a number of assets until it could make a return on its investment. It did not sell its last aircraft repossessed after that event until 2015. Repossessing aircraft and then remarketing them requires time and an administrative burden, including the UKEF setting up special purpose vehicles to become effectively the new operating lessor for the aircraft. This often involves the assistance of external remarketing agencies, Leeds notes.

TAP Air Portugal has reported a return to annual profitability well ahead of its own expectations after benefiting from surging sales into the final quarter of 2022.. The airline made a €65.6 million ($71 million) net profit in 2022, after a loss of €1.6 billion in 2021. Passenger numbers reached 13.8 million, representing a more than doubling against the prior year and 81% of 2019 levels. Capacity was at 87% of pre-crisis levels and load factor, at 80%, just 0.1 percentage point below the 2019 level. Fuel costs more than tripled to €1.1 billion. TAP says its hedging programme only "marginally" reduced the effect of higher prices, by €85.5 million. The Portuguese government is set to reveal a plan for TAP's privatisation over the coming months, having reportedly carried out pre-market assessments of interest. TAP was renationalised amid the pandemic in 2020, with the state emerging as the majority shareholder of the carrier. Airline groups IAG, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have all expressed an interest in purchasing TAP.

Thai Airways International expects to eke out "at least Bt10 million" ($300,000) in net profit in 2023, on the back of operational and cost measures it has taken as part of its restructuring. The carrier says it has increased flight frequencies, launched new routes and "accelerated the expansion" of its fleet by reactivating aircraft and introducing additional aircraft "to serve the growing demand for travel". Thai says it has cut staff-related expenses and increased performance as an organisation "consistent with changes in the industry to allow Thai to operate sustainably in the long run". It also highlights plans to increase revenue from its aviation-support business, identifying the segment as a "key factor that helps Thai's net profit from normal operations recover and be positive again". Thai's financial estimates also reaffirmed its target for shareholder equity to turn positive in 2024, in line with a 7 April 2024 deadline to reach the milestone to avoid being delisted from the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Despite the optimistic financial projections, the airline cautioned that its net equity "may remain less than zero" by the deadline, and that it may have to apply for a one-year extension of the business reorganisation period. "Thai's financial estimation is based on the assumptions of capital restructuring and other factors which impact business expansion, economic forecast as well as domestic and international aviation industry, which may differ from the actual performance of Thai in the future," it states. Thai reported a net loss of Bt251 million in 2022, versus the Bt55.1 billion in 2021. The core airline made a pre-tax profit of Bt1.25 billion, down from a profit of Bt55.5 billion. The group says it suffered losses from debt restructuring and foreign exchange but also recorded one-time gains from reversal of losses on impairments, and gains on sale of certain assets.