[Exclusive] Eastar Jet Reduced Unconfirmed Claims by 100 Billion Won... "Repayment Rate Over 4.5%"

Total Bond Amount in Early 300 Billion KRW Range
Positive Signs for Acquisition Procedures Including Related Party Meetings

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Eastar Jet has reduced its uncertain claims amount, previously reaching 260 billion KRW, by up to approximately 100 billion KRW. As the total claim amount decreases, the repayment rate of rehabilitation claims is expected to rise by 1 percentage point, signaling a positive outlook for upcoming creditor meetings and acquisition procedures.

According to legal and aviation industry sources on the 5th, Eastar Jet reported a revised rehabilitation plan to the Seoul Bankruptcy Court the day before, estimating the total claim amount in the low 300 billion KRW range. This represents a reduction of up to about 100 billion KRW compared to the previously submitted total claim amount of approximately 420 billion KRW (160 billion KRW in rehabilitation claims + 260 billion KRW in uncertain claims).

The approximately 100 billion KRW decrease in Eastar Jet’s total claim amount was mainly due to successful last-minute agreements with major aircraft lessors, who account for 70% of the uncertain claims, following accelerated negotiations starting earlier this month.

With the reduction in claims, the repayment rate is expected to increase from the previous 3.68% to over 4.5%, rising by about 1 percentage point.

In particular, the increase in the repayment rate means that individual creditors will receive higher repayment amounts corresponding to the concessions made by major lessors. This is analyzed to positively influence obtaining approval from more than two-thirds of the creditor group at the creditor meeting scheduled for the 12th.

Seong Jeong, the preferred bidder for Eastar Jet’s acquisition, plans to pay the remaining acquisition funds by that day unless the rehabilitation court has special requirements.

Previously, Seong Jeong proposed a total acquisition fund of 108.7 billion KRW for Eastar Jet, of which 38.7 billion KRW is operating costs, leaving acquisition costs at around 70 billion KRW. From the acquisition costs, approximately 53 billion KRW in public claims such as unpaid wages and retirement benefits, along with 1.2 billion KRW in administrator fees, totaling 54.2 billion KRW, will be prioritized for repayment, and the remaining 15.8 billion KRW will be used to repay rehabilitation claims.

An Eastar Jet official stated, “As a result of smooth negotiations with major lessors, we have lowered the total claim amount to the low 300 billion KRW range. We expect the final repayment rate to exceed 4.5%, and we will do our best in the remaining acquisition procedures.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.