Since their introduction to the English insolvency regime in 2020, court sanctioned restructuring plans under Part 26A of the UK Companies Act 2006 – a new, more-flexible alternative to traditional UK restructuring tools – which take some of their DNA from U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings (in particular, the ‘cross class cram down’ mechanism), have been a hot topic for insolvency lawyers.
Airlines throughout the world were unable to fully trade during the pandemic-related lockdowns and their subsequent travel restrictions, creating significant liquidity constraints during 2020–22. As a result, a number of major international airlines—including Aeroméxico, Avianca, LATAM, Norwegian Air Shuttle, SAS and Virgin Australia—were forced to file for bankruptcy protection or insolvency administration, and many airline lessors were forced to agree to defer lease rental payments from their airline customers.
The United Kingdom’s Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) shifted the focus of the United Kingdom’s insolvency regime from administration and liquidation to rescue and recovery and introduced a number of interesting new features that apply to companies experiencing financial difficulties. This article considers how certain of these features fit into the insolvency regime of the Cape Town Convention.1
Introduction
Airport and air navigation charges
EU Emissions Trading Scheme EU Emissions Trading Scheme
Comment
Recent European airline bankruptcies have highlighted the need to take care when formulating aircraft repossession and recovery strategies.
Vessels cannot sail without fuel. This industry truth is recognized in contracts and under U.S. maritime law. In fact, enabling ship operators to efficiently obtain fuel is so important that U.S. maritime law purports to grant fuel suppliers a maritime lien over the vessels to which fuel is supplied. However, a recent series of cases demonstrates that the U.S. maritime laws establishing fuel suppliers’ rights are uncertain, creating risks for fuel suppliers, ship operators and shipowners.
"The Government has carefully considered the views of the respondents to the call for evidence and has decided to proceed with ratification of the treaty" – para. 1.4 - Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (the Convention) and the Protocol thereto on Matters Specific to Aircraft Equipment (the Protocol), Government Response to the Call for Evidence (the Government Response).
Introduction
Monarch Airlines Limited's administrators have won an appeal with the Court of Appeal(1) regarding Monarch's rights in and to certain 'slots' at Luton and Gatwick Airports after Monarch went into administration at the beginning of October 2017.
The case is significant, as it reaffirms the value ascribed to slots by airlines and their financiers as rights of the airline and the fact that, as a result, they can be traded for value even after insolvency.
Since the inception of Tribal1 gaming, billions of dollars have been provided to Tribal casinos by investors and lenders. Clearly, these investments and loans were not considered to be a gamble. Tribal debtors borrow for many reasons; their debt is considered “sovereign” due to their unique legal standing.