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引言
随着 COVID-19 疫情持续在全球范围内造成严重破坏，疫情对泰国经济的影响 也非常明显。由于暂停对国际旅客的开放，占泰国 GDP15％以上的旅游业在 本年度收入已大幅减少。严重依赖旅游业的企业已经被迫关闭了成千上万家， 而许多在 COVID-19 之前就已经遇到财务困难的公司现在已濒临破产边缘。 今年，泰国的破产与重整法在 1997 年亚洲金融危机以后又一次重回公众的视 野。2020 年 4 月下旬，泰国行业领先的房地产开发商之一 PACE Development Public Company Limited 向泰国中央破产法院（“法院”）提交了破产重整 申请。
紧接着是泰国的老牌航空公司——泰国国际航空公司（Thai Airways International Public Company Limited，简称“ 泰航”），由于 COVID19 造成的财务困难，于 2020 年 5 月 26 日向法院提交了破产重整申请。曾经 被视为航空企业标杆的泰航，截至 2020 年 3 月 31 日，债务总额高达 3540 亿 泰铢（约合 112 亿美元）。法院初审时间定在 2020 年 8 月 17 日，届时法院 将裁定是否接受泰航继续进行破产重整。
July Bankruptcy and Restructuring Developments
On 21 July 2020 the Irish High Court approved a scheme of arrangement for the world's largest regional aircraft lessor Nordic Aviation Capital DAC (Nordic).
The scheme, which included a 12-month standstill and deferral of c. US$5 billion of secured and unsecured debt, was a market-first for the aircraft leasing industry and has been watched closely by others in the sector.
The Irish scheme had a number of innovative features:
The High Court recently in an ex tempore (unwritten) judgment (to be followed by a more detailed written judgment) approved a scheme of arrangement under Part 9 of the Companies Act 2014 in what may be a template for future restructurings in the aviation sector and a further example, following on from the Weatherford and Ballantyne cases, of the Irish courts’ willingness to facilitate large international restructurings.
The case concerned the Nordic Aviation group, the largest regional aircraft lessor and the fifth largest aircraft lessor globally.
On 21 July 2020, the Irish High Court approved a scheme of arrangement for the world’s largest regional aircraft lessor Nordic Aviation Capital DAC (NAC).
The scheme, which included a 12-month standstill and deferral of c. US$5bn of secured and unsecured debt, is a market-first for the aircraft leasing industry in Ireland whose customer base has been seriously impacted by COVID-19. We look at the NAC scheme of arrangement and consider whether it is a viable restructuring option for the aviation sector more generally.
EDITORIAL by John Kimbell QC
Welcome to the first edition of Aviation News!
These are challenging and uncertain times for the aviation world. Covid-19 has temporarily grounded large numbers of commercial aircraft and rumours of airline insolvency abound as pictures of empty airports regularly appear in the press. Against this background, Thomas Macey-Dare QC considers the impact of airline insolvency on slot allocation and Mark Stiggelbout and Emily McWilliams discuss the potential impact of force majeure and frustration arguments based on the pandemic.
Insolvency termination clauses in Supply Contracts
What are the potential implications of the new measures in relation to contracts for the supply of goods or services set out in the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (the “Act”) for aircraft lenders, lessors and airlines? In the second of a series of three articles, we consider the new prohibition on suppliers invoking termination clauses (or changing other terms) upon an insolvency or formal restructuring process introduced in the Act.
If you are an aviation professional in the COVID-19 era, you are likely learning about, or reacquainting yourself with, the restructuring process.
The UK Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill, currently progressing through UK Parliament, will have an impact on various stakeholders in the aviation industry once enacted, due to its moratorium, supply contract, and restructuring plan provisions.
Key Features
The UK Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill has three key features: