Air Antilles: how much does it actually cost?
Elected representatives took note of Air Antilles’ compulsory liquidation at the territorial council meeting on 27 June. The next step is to take stock: to estimate the depreciation of assets and set aside provisions in the budget to cover potential losses.
SEM Air Antilles was established on 18 October 2023 with a share capital of €2 million, 60 per cent of which is held by the Collectivité and 40 per cent by CIPIM. In addition to the capital contribution (€1.2 million), the company subsequently received from the Collectivité a shareholder’s current account advance (€6 million) and loans totalling €13 million. Last March, a provision for contingent liabilities of €1.4 million was included in the initial budget. At the time of the judgement, liabilities were significantly higher, standing at €56 million. Admittedly, the company’s assets are to be sold, as are the aircraft, but this will not be enough to pay off the debts owed to all creditors.
16.3 million gone
As a shareholder, the Local Authority cannot claim repayment of its capital contribution, unless a liquidation surplus is realised after creditors have been fully repaid – a highly unlikely prospect given the imbalance between liabilities and assets. The same applies to the current account advance, which in practice is only repaid once all creditors have been paid.
Of the €13 million in loans granted but not repaid by SEM Air Antilles, in the absence of a precise inventory of realisable assets (fleet, slots, brand, trade receivables), a 70 per cent write-down has been applied; however, this may be adjusted, up to 100 per cent, depending on the information provided by the liquidator. The Collectivité hopes, however, to be able to recover 20 per cent to 30 per cent of the sum.
Ultimately, between the equity investments (€1.2 million), the current account advance (€6 million) – which will be a total write-off – and the estimated impairment on assets based on a 70 per cent assumption (i.e. €9.1 million), a total of €14.9 million therefore remains to be included in the 2026 supplementary budget.
In order to carry out this procedure, the Collectivité will engage a legal adviser specialising in insolvency law… an additional cost associated with this case! President Louis Mussington will be required to keep elected representatives regularly informed of the progress of the liquidation proceedings and of developments regarding the financial risk to be borne by the Collectivité.
The only piece of good news is that discussions are reportedly underway with central government departments to negotiate the introduction of a public service obligation for the destination, modelled on the service to Corsica, with compensation from the State where applicable.
