Skymark Airlines to keep Haneda landing slots in rescue deal

Tokyo

SKYMARK Airlines, the Japanese carrier that filed for bankruptcy protection, will keep its landing slots at Tokyo's Haneda airport as part of a rescue deal it struck with ANA Holdings, people familiar with the matter said.

ANA will invest in Skymark as part of the carrier's revival plan, taking a stake of less than 20 per cent, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the information isn't public yet. A deal between the two companies is in its final stages of negotiations, they said.

"If it's as reported, ANA won't be gaining so much for itself as its investment is less than 20 per cent," Ryota Himeno, a senior analyst at Barclays Plc in Tokyo, said. "It's mostly a defensive move, not to give Skymark's Haneda slots to a rival airline company."

ANA doesn't have an official release regarding the negotiations with Skymark, a company spokeswoman said.

Private equity firm Integral Corp is assisting Skymark's turnaround, and the airline has been seeking investment from other carriers as well. Crucial to the revival plan are Skymark's 36 takeoff and landing slots at Tokyo's Haneda airport - near central Tokyo - an asset worth about 72 billion yen (S$815 million) in annual revenue, according to Hiroshi Hasegawa, an analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities in Tokyo.

Skymark filed for bankruptcy protection on Jan 28 and has liabilities of about 300 billion yen, according to Nobuo Sayama, a partner at Integral. The company is due to present a recovery plan by the end of May, and has said it expects to post an operating profit by July. BLOOMBERG