Thursday, Jul 07, 2011
BEIRUT (Zawya Dow Jones)--Kuwait National Airways Co.'s (KNA.KW) shareholder meeting on the carrier's future has been postponed due to the lack of a quorum, state-run news agency Kuna reports Thursday, citing an executive.
The company's fate will depend on the shareholders' decision at their next meeting, the news agency reports, citing the airline's chairman and managing director, Abdulsalam Al Bahar.
Kuna cites Bahar as saying that Burgan Bank and Kuwait International Bank have filed lawsuits against his company, also known as Wataniya Airways, asking for the repayment of debts of 16 million Kuwaiti dinars ($58.28 million) and KWD5 million, respectively.
Selling Wataniya's stake in United Projects for Aviation Services Co. won't be enough to meet the airline's obligations, especially as the stake is mortgaged against loans, Bahar added.
He also said the company isn't talking to any foreign companies about taking a stake in the airline.
In June, Wataniya said talks with Alafco Aviation Lease and Finance Co. regarding its $70 million debt to the aircraft lessor failed.
According to a media report last week, an Alafco executive said his company's talks with Wataniya were still underway and positive steps had been made toward resolving the issue.
Last month, Wataniya scrapped a plan to increase its capital by KWD15 million because it hadn't been able to reach an agreement regarding its debt to Alafco. It said earlier that it will resume the plan if its shareholders approve a capital increase.
News agency website: http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicsite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2178770&Language=ar
-By Shikrallah Nakhoul, Zawya Dow Jones; +961 1 985757; shikrallah@zawya.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-07-11 1451GMT
