Greece’s AEGEAN Confirms Bid for Croatia Airlines

Greek airline company AEGEAN recently confirmed that it has participated in the non-binding indicative offer stage of the privatization of Croatia Airlines.

The Croatian government has set a deadline to either fully privatise or recapitalise Croatia Airlines by June 2020.

According to an announcement by AEGEAN, any material decisions about the company’s potential participation or not in the next stage will be taken in the following months, following the provision of access to information and discussions, as per the process the Republic of Croatia will prescribe.

It is reminded that AEGEAN had expressed an interest in Croatia’s national airline back in 2015 and had qualified for the second stage of negotiations with then privatisation advisors International Finance Corporation (IFC). However, the tender was cancelled then due to a change of government in Croatia.

AEGEAN has expanded its network in Croatia in recent years and now links Athens with Zagreb for most of the year. Its routes to Dubrovnik were maintained in 2019 and for most of the winter season. AEGEAN also offers seasonal routes to Split.

In 2020, AEGEAN will fly to 155 destinations with 65 aircraft, six of which are Airbus A320 / 321neo that will be delivered in the first half of the year.

Spain’s Air Nostrum has also submitted a bid for the acquisition of Croatia Airlines.