Trending in November

GLOBAL AVIATION NEWS

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.

Trending in November

The following are the ten most read articles on EX-YU Aviation News throughout November according to accumulated statistics.

1. Flydubai modifies EX-YU operations
2. Venezuela’s Conviasa becomes regular Belgrade visitor

3. Wizz Air reduces capacity by 74% on main EX-YU markets

4. Restrictions lead to boom in Israel - Serbia air travel

5. Wizz Air's EX-YU network cuts exceed fifty destinations

6. Slovenia awards Lufthansa most aid, easyJet disqualified
7. Air Serbia tops New York JFK load factor
8. PHOTOS: Belgrade Airport expansion advances

9. New Slovenian carrier's future hangs on EU approval

10. Croatia to invest over €132 million in airport development

The three most read trip reports in November:

1. KLM: Amsterdam - Split
2. Air France: Paris - Ljubljana
3. Flydubai: Belgrade - Dubai

The most popular vintage photo published in November:

JAT DC-10 approaching Heathrow Airport, 1980s

The most visitors by country:

1. Serbia
2. Slovenia

3. Croatia

4. United Kingdom
5. United States
6. Germany

7. Bosnia and Herzegovina
8. United Arab Emirates

9. Macedonia

10. Canada
11. Switzerland

12. Netherlands
13. Australia

14. Austria
15. Sweden

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