Cash-strapped Far Eastern Air Transport Corp (FAT, 遠東航空) yesterday disclosed plans to sell its non-operational investments, including shares in the Xiamen Air Cargo Hub and the Kaohsiung air cargo warehouse, to meet short-term liquidity needs.
"We will sell the 12 percent shares we hold in Xiamen Air Cargo Hub (廈門航空貨運站) to the other four major shareholders for a total of NT$160 million [US$5.17 million]," FAT spokesman Hanson Chang (張有朋) said.
EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), China Airlines Ltd (CAL; 中華航空), Taiwan Air Service Co (台灣航勤), and China's Xiamen Airport are the four major shareholders of the air cargo hub.
Chang said profits from other non-operational investments such as NT$50 million from Kaohsiung Air Food Service (高雄空儲) and NT$20 million in accounts receivable from online travel agent EZfly.com (易飛網) would help the cash crunch next week.
Chang said that a total of NT$35 million had already been received yesterday to meet the costs of operation over the weekend, as well as last month's payroll.
FAT said because of severe losses after the high-speed railway started operation and continuous surges in fuel costs, the company had gained approval from the Civil Aeronautic Administration to suspend service from Taipei to Tainan and from Kaohsiung to Hualien beginning today.
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