Air Canada on June 21 announced it has prepaid loans of approximately $650 millionfrom Export Development Corporation (EDC) used by the company to help fund its acquisition of 19 Airbus A220-300 aircraft. The prepayment, which is also subject to accrued interest, was made on June 21, 2023.

The prepayment of the loans for 19 Airbus A220-300 aircraft financed through EDC was achieved via:

• a full prepayment of Air Canada’s 2021 credit facility with EDC for the acquisition of 15 Airbus A220-300 aircraft, and
  
• a partial prepayment of Air Canada’s 2020 credit facility with EDC for the acquisition of 18 Airbus A220-300 aircraft.

As a result of the prepayment, these aircraft will be added to Air Canada’s unencumbered asset pool, bringing the total to approximately $5.4 billion, excluding Aeroplan.

The amount of debt prepayments now totals approximately $1.28 billion since and including the repurchase of some of Air Canada’s outstanding 4.000% convertible senior notes due 2025 completed last year, leading to a reduction in interest expense of approximately $115 million (approximately $72 million in cash) on an annualized basis.