The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York granted key approvals to Brazilian airline GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes during the “first day” hearing of the airline’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, including approving interim access to $950 million in debtor-in-possession financing committed by members of an ad hoc group of bondholders from Abra. The Company intends to seek final approval of the financing at a hearing in the coming weeks. With this approval, GOL will honor commitments to business partners and suppliers of goods and services provided on or after the filing date of Jan. 25 and will continue paying employee salaries, wages and benefits.
“We are pleased by this successful start to our legal financial restructuring. Obtaining the U.S. court’s authorization to access new financing will enable GOL to continue operating in the normal course, as we anticipated,” Celso Ferrer, CEO of GOL, said. “GOL’s purpose is ‘being the first for all’, and we initiated this process not only for the benefit of our company and our employees, but to make us an even stronger airline for our customers, suppliers and all our partners. Moving forward with the support of our lenders, we are confident that we will continue to advance our long-term strategies, including improving affordability, the travel experience and customer choice. We thank our talented team and dedicated partners, suppliers and passengers for their continued support.”
