Turkish Airlines may bid for Austrian Airlines

As we reported earlier this week, the government of Austria has announced that it will sell its 43 percent stake in the country’s flag carrier, Austrian Airlines. Only a couple of days after this announcement, it already appears as though there may be a serious contender for the company. According to the Reuters news agency, Turkish Airlines is considering submitting a bid for the Austrian national airline. Temel Kotil, the Turkish company’s chief executive officer, pointed out that his carrier was interested, “in principle,” in Austrian Airlines, even though he was quick to add that no concrete decision has been made on whether or not his firm will ultimately submit a bid.

Yet Turkish Airlines will have to come to a firm decision fairly quickly, as Austria has set August 24^th as the deadline for any investor to express their interest in submitting a bid to purchase the state’s share of Austrian Airlines. Media sources report that Turkish Airlines is, indeed, one of a small group of foreign carriers that may be encouraged to partner with Austrian Airlines. Air France-KLM is also seen as possible contender. The first choice, however, remains Lufthansa, which many Austrian politicians appear to prefer as a possible buyer of the state’s shares. The government’s stake in Austrian Airlines is currently valued at around 157 million euros.

Turkish Airlines has been performing quite well this year and the carrier has also demonstrated important signs of growth. As such, it is clearly looking at expanding in Europe and it may end up buying a stake in BH Airlines, based in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Thank you to Reuters for the initial report.

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