European airline cash: new credit and state aid boosts some

Wizz Air and Ryanair lead the ranking and Norwegian trails on the basis of balance sheet cash/cash equivalents at the most recent reporting date, expressed as a percentage of 2019 revenue.

This report updates CAPA's analysis of the liquidity balances of leading European airline groups.

When undrawn credit facilities, state aid and other sources of available liquidity are also included, Wizz Air still leads. However, additional sources take Finnair, easyJet and Air France-KLM ahead of Ryanair (although the latter has headroom to raise further credit if it wanted to). Norwegian remains at the bottom of the ranking.

A crucial source of airline liquidity is deferred revenue. With almost no actual revenue to book during the COVID-19 crisis, airlines have been understandably reluctant to refund cash paid in advance for cancelled flights. However, doubts over the receipt of refunds can also reduce demand for future bookings when schedules remain fragmented and uncertain.