IAS 36: the impact of covid-19 pandemic on the aircrafts recoverable amount in the european aviation sector

Abstract

The year of 2020 will be marked in history by the pandemic caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. Worldwide economies and markets have been affected by the consequences of the highly transmissible disease, particularly the aviation segment. Considering that the main activity of airlines is only possible through their aircrafts, the objective of this study consists in estimating, based on International Accounting Standard no. 36 – Impairment of Assets, the recoverable amount of these assets in the European Union commercial aviation sector. The results suggest that Lufthansa and Ryanair Groups do not indicate any impairment loss to be recognized in the Financial Statements as of December 31st 2021. For IAG Group, we concluded that may be a reversal of the impairment loss recognized in the prior year - 2020. Finally, for AirFrance-KLM Group, according to our estimation, the Group may reinforce the impairment loss in the amount of approximately €674M.