Croatia Airlines to be sold within nine months

Croatia Airlines’ privatisation process kicks off

The Croatian Ministry for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure has announced it expects to see Croatia Airlines’ privatisation process completed within six to nine months. The Croatian carrier will become the first state run company to be sold under the new assets management law. The ministry says the airline’s privatisation process has effectively begun and its value is estimated at approximately 39 million euros. A proposal for the sale of Croatia Airlines is expected to be drafted within the next two weeks. Following government approval, an international tender for the sale of the Croatian carrier will be launched.

The Minister for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Siniša Hajdaš Dončić, has previously said the government will sell a 49% stake in the airline if the buyer is from outside the European Union, while more shares could be sold in case an EU investor comes along. So far, Garuda Indonesia is the only airline to have officially confirmed its interest in purchasing a stake in Croatia Airlines. The government has held talks with officials from both China Southern Airlines and Hainan Airlines as well. Etihad Airways and Turkish Airlines, which have both been linked as possible strategic partners, have denied interest in the Croatian carrier.

Meanwhile, Croatia Airlines is continuing to deal with the fallout of its most serious emergency from two weeks ago when one of its Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft landed without its nose gear. A further four incidents involving Croatia Airlines aircraft have occurred since, three of which were on the Dash 8s. While the incidents were minor, all have been reported by the Croatian media. The most recent incident, which occurred yesterday, involved the airline’s Airbus A319 scheduled to operate the service between Zagreb and Paris. The jet was forced to return to the Croatian capital shortly after takeoff due to technical problems. Several opposition politicians have suggested the government and media are running a smear campaign against the carrier in the run up to its privatisation process in order to justify a low purchase price to the public. Croatia Airlines’ Chief Operating Officer, Zlatko Širac, says, “We would all be more than happy to get rid of the Dash aircraft and buy Airbus. The fact that such a move would lead us into bankruptcy doesn’t seem to interest either our pilots nor the public”.

Comments

  1. I just don't see this ending well for OU...

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    1. Anonymous17:43

      Well, they will probably somehow merge with JP, and start ruling over the whole region as Adria. Wouldn´t be suprised to see Luthansa buying both airliners for some cheap money. Lufhtansa is knowing the Southeast European market quit well, which cann´t be said for Etihad, that seems just to immatite the own business from Abu Dhabi in Belgrade.

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    2. Anonymous17:45

      lol

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    3. Anonymous17:55

      @AnonymousOctober 10, 2013 at 5:43 PM: You write about this on every single news. We got the point!

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    4. Anonymous21:52

      Writing about Lufthansa buying Croatia Airlines and Adria? About Lufhtansa knowing our market better than other? Sorry, dude, perhaps I bring up the same view and ideas in my comments, but they are far away to be same. In most of the time they are more different than the news on aviation development in the region.

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  2. Anonymous09:29

    It means the corrupted state authorities are not capable of leading the failed country which actually hasn't got profitable industry. The same is with JAT and Serbia, and the rest of the Balkan "states".

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  3. Anonymous10:01

    This reminds me of the bad publicity Jat got a few summers ago. Most of it was made up, anyway, like the picture where the screws were missing from its wing or engine.
    I think the same is happening with Croatia Airlines. I would not be surprised if someone is after the airline for his own personal gains.

    The real question is how much longer OU will be able to deal with all this. All this negative publicity will not only jeopardise its passenger numbers but could harm the agreement it has with foreign airlines.

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  4. Anonymous10:32

    OT;

    Yesterday was the launch date of Aeroput's first international line back in 1929. The flight was Belgrade-Graz via Zagreb.

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    1. Anonymous17:45

      For the early flights, it is incorrect to state the flight "Belgrade-Graz via Zagreb". They had point-to-point flights, including several stops, and making the route as such.

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  5. Anonymous03:01

    Now with Alitalia deep in problems...
    I fear whole attention will be on Italy.
    Nothing left for Croatia Airlines...

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