newstodate.aero

Jan 29, 2020 (newstodate): Quite unexpectedly, Lithuania's Avia Solutions Group is emerging as the new 100-percent owner of the Icelandic cargo carrier Bluebird Nordic.
   According to the release, Avia signed an agreement on January 24, 2020, with the BB Holding to take over all shares in Bluebird Nordic.
   -With this new acquisition, Avia Solutions Group steps into the narrow-body ACMI cargo business. Being the biggest passenger ACMI group with one of the largest corporate airline in Europe, we were actually missing cargo operations, says Gediminas Ziemelis, Avia Solutions Group Chairman of the Board of Directors.
   -Being the biggest passenger ACMI group with one of the largest corporate airline in Europe, we were actually missing cargo operations. Differently from long-haul wide-body cargo business, narrow-body demand is growing fast, driven by electronic trade and others.  
   -Today, we own seven AOCs in various countries and our plan is to achieve synergy between pilots pool, maintenance and lease costs, his statement reads.
   In the fleet of Bluebird Nordic are currently six Boeing 737-300/400 freighters providing ACMI cargo services for integrators and ad-hoc freighter wet-lease services throughout Europe, Asia and North America.
    Bluebird Cargo was set up in 2000, managed and co-owned by Thor Kjartansson together with other Icelandic investors.
    In February 2005, the carrier was sold to the Icelandair Group, but in February 2011 Icelandair decided to divest of Bluebird Cargo that was placed with the two Icelandic banks.
   After a few years, the company was acquired by BB Holding, a 50/50 enterprise between the investment group Haru Holding that is also behind Air Atlanta Icelandic, and Steinn Logi Bjornsson, till now serving as Chairman of the Board.