British Airways axes planned Podgorica service

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Italy to sell ITA in June

Italy's government aims to sell state-owned ITA Airways, the successor to Alitalia, by the end of June after setting a deadline for binding offers of May 23, Economy Minister Daniele Franco said. Three prospective bidders for ITA Airways have had access to its finance data room, Franco said addressing parliament over the issue. They are shipping group MSC alongside Germany's Lufthansa, the U.S. Certares fund in cooperation with Delta and Air France, and investor Indigo Partners, Franco added. Under a government decree, Rome plans to privatise ITA through a direct sale while retaining a minority, non-controlling stake in a first stage. MSC in January requested an exclusivity period of 90 days to iron out details of an acquisition, but Rome opted for a market-based procedure aimed at keeping the door open to other potential suitors. "The outcome of the negotiations is not a foregone conclusion. We will examine the three offers in a transparent way, there is no decision on our part at present", Franco said adding a key factor is that the buyer is at least 51% owned by a European player. Lufthansa is interested in taking a minority stake in ITA, leaving the majority to MSC, the airline said in remarks during its shareholders meeting. It added, however, that the review of ITA's financial data would be important to confirm this preliminary intention. If the deal does go through, Lufthansa aims to build a close commercial cooperation with ITA and expects synergies to make the investment profitable in the long term, the carrier said. Under an agreement with the European Union, Rome can inject up to 1.35 billion euros into the ITA by 2023. A privatisation deal would potentially reduce the financial support granted by the state, limiting the costs for Italian taxpayers.

British Airways axes planned Podgorica service

NEWS FLASH

British Airways has suspended plans to launch seasonal summer flights between London Heathrow Airport and Podgorica due to the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. The airline was to inaugurate the service on July 4 and maintain flights once per week until August 29. Ticket sales have now been suspended. The carrier’s new seasonal service to Pristina, which is to run over the same period, is still scheduled at this point.

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Anonymous11:20
oh no
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Anonymous11:32
Ouch
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Anonymous13:09
These kind of news make me sad. This is a really bad period for Montenegro, first YM and now all these cancellations.
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Wingman Montenegro21:14
Too bad that the BA is not coming. It would be sort of a milestone, but the route will be serviced by Ryanair and YM and connections will hopefully be maintained through codeshares via CDG, VIE, FRA etc.
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British Airways axes planned Podgorica service

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