newstodate.aero
May 12, 2010 (newstodate): After the collapse of most of Slovakia's airline industry, the Czech company Travel Services has decided to move into the market to fill the void.
The company is now registering a total for four aircraft in Slovakia and will set up operations at Bratislava Airport, providing capacity for the country's tour operations during the summer season.
Initially, a total of four aircraft will be allocated to the new Slovak base, including one Boeing 737-800NG and three Airbus A320 aircraft.
From the base at Bratislava as well as from Kosice, Slovakia, Travel Service will operate flights to a total of 35 leisure destinations around the Mediterranean Sea, such as North Africa, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Italy and Cap Verde.
-So far the contract with tour operators cover the summer season, but plans are of course to establish long-term contracts to secure all-year operations at our new base in Slovakia, says Vladka Dufkova, Travel Service Advertising and PR Manager.
Since 2007, Travel Service is 50.1 percent owned by the Icelandair Group, with the company's CEO, Roman Vik, together with the Unimex Group holding the remaining 49.9 percent of the shares.
As an element in the Icelandair Group's decision to retreat to core business, its stake in Travel Services has been marked for sale when market conditions improve, as is also the case with Icelandair Group's stakes in Group subsidiaries Smartlynx, formerly LatCharter, in Latvia, acquired in 2006, and the Icelandic cargo capacity provider Bluebird Cargo that was acquired in 2005
The company is now registering a total for four aircraft in Slovakia and will set up operations at Bratislava Airport, providing capacity for the country's tour operations during the summer season.
Initially, a total of four aircraft will be allocated to the new Slovak base, including one Boeing 737-800NG and three Airbus A320 aircraft.
From the base at Bratislava as well as from Kosice, Slovakia, Travel Service will operate flights to a total of 35 leisure destinations around the Mediterranean Sea, such as North Africa, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Italy and Cap Verde.
-So far the contract with tour operators cover the summer season, but plans are of course to establish long-term contracts to secure all-year operations at our new base in Slovakia, says Vladka Dufkova, Travel Service Advertising and PR Manager.
Since 2007, Travel Service is 50.1 percent owned by the Icelandair Group, with the company's CEO, Roman Vik, together with the Unimex Group holding the remaining 49.9 percent of the shares.
As an element in the Icelandair Group's decision to retreat to core business, its stake in Travel Services has been marked for sale when market conditions improve, as is also the case with Icelandair Group's stakes in Group subsidiaries Smartlynx, formerly LatCharter, in Latvia, acquired in 2006, and the Icelandic cargo capacity provider Bluebird Cargo that was acquired in 2005