newstodate.aero

Dec 07, 2018 (newstodate): Lurking on the horizon may be a separation between the Polish carrier LOT and the Estonian airline Nordica. Media now reports that Nordica may buy back the 49 percent stake in its subsidiary, Regional Jet, held by LOT under an agreement stemming from 2017. Nordica is basically a virtual airline, while Regional Jet serves as the capacity provider for the airline's operations in a strategic partnership with LOT that also provides the commercial platform for the airline's sales and bookings. According to the same media, Nordica's unsatisfactory annual results as well as changes in the market situation may lead LOT to pull out from the strategic alliance and ownership stake in Regional Jet. In July 2018, Nordica's CEO from the start of the airline stepped down, opening speculations over a looming rift between the partners, and through this autumn Nordica has seen several changes at executive levels as well as a significant reduction in the route network. Nordica is indeed strongly impacted by the increasing competition from the Latvian carrier airBaltic that has announced the allocation of three Airbus A220-300 aircraft to its base at Tallinn Airport from 2019 to serve a network comprising so far 12 destinations in competition with Nordica.