Trending in February

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 February

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

1. Air Serbia to compete by being “Wizzier than Wizz”
2. Sundair boss to launch Croatian airline

3. Croatia Airlines recapitalised

4. Croatian start-up ETF to take first jet

5. Air Serbia retires Boeing 737 fleet

6. Belgrade - Toronto flights “top priority”
7. Wizz Air to open Sarajevo base
8. European Commission unhappy with Slovenia flag carrier plan

9. Wizz's Sarajevo base to impact Croatia Airlines, Air Serbia

10. State acquires two jets for ToMontenegro

The five most read premium articles in February:

1. Belgrade Airport's top unserved routes

2. Zagreb Airport's top unserved routes

3. Most popular Gulf markets from Ljubljana

4. Ljubljana Airport's top unserved routes
5. Lufthansa becomes Ljubljana's top transfer airline

The most popular vintage photo published in February:

JAT ad, 1990

The most visitors by country:

1. Serbia
2. Slovenia

3. Croatia

4. United States
5. Bosnia and Herzegovina
6. Germany

7. United Kingdom
8. Canada

9. Macedonia

10. Switzerland
11. Netherlands

12. Australia
13. Montenegro

14. Sweden
15. Ireland

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