newstodate.aero
SEP 07, 2005 (newstodate): Austrian Airlines has decided to pull out from the Bratislava Airport tender now open.
The Austrian Airlines Group had originally intended to participate, seeing neighbouring Slovakia as part of its core catchment area.
-The business cycle of the Austrian Airlines Group in the H1, 2005, is demanding that the company concentrates strictly on its core business in addition to the intensified countermeasures in place since the first quarter of the year. For this reason, the company will no longer be participating in the privatisation of Bratislava Airport, either alone or as part of a consortium of bidders, the company now says.
-We view our interests and future potential in the Slovakian market as being safeguarded by the strong integration of Slovakia into our global network via Vienna and by our majority shareholding in Slovak Airlines. As well as this, based on our contacts with the Slovak authorities to date, we are also working on the assumption that Bratislava Airport will continue to be managed in a competitive and cost-efficient manner once the privatisation process is complete, says Vahn Sorensen, Austrian Airlines CEO, in a statement on the decision.
September 5 was the deadline for delivering binding bids for Bratislava and Kosice airport, and in the first round a total of 49 interested parties had registered.
The privatisation of the two Slovakian airport will be completed before the end of this year.
The Austrian Airlines Group had originally intended to participate, seeing neighbouring Slovakia as part of its core catchment area.
-The business cycle of the Austrian Airlines Group in the H1, 2005, is demanding that the company concentrates strictly on its core business in addition to the intensified countermeasures in place since the first quarter of the year. For this reason, the company will no longer be participating in the privatisation of Bratislava Airport, either alone or as part of a consortium of bidders, the company now says.
-We view our interests and future potential in the Slovakian market as being safeguarded by the strong integration of Slovakia into our global network via Vienna and by our majority shareholding in Slovak Airlines. As well as this, based on our contacts with the Slovak authorities to date, we are also working on the assumption that Bratislava Airport will continue to be managed in a competitive and cost-efficient manner once the privatisation process is complete, says Vahn Sorensen, Austrian Airlines CEO, in a statement on the decision.
September 5 was the deadline for delivering binding bids for Bratislava and Kosice airport, and in the first round a total of 49 interested parties had registered.
The privatisation of the two Slovakian airport will be completed before the end of this year.