Czech Government Launches CSA Sale

Jan 20, 2009
Jens Flottau/Frankfurt jflottau@freenet.de



The Czech Republic wants to sell 91.5% of national carrier CSA Czech Airlines, setting September as the target to complete the sale.

The sale would follow similar moves in Hungary and Austria where former national carriers Malev and Austrian were sold last year. A minority stake in LOT Polish Airlines will be on the market later this year.

Formal bids have not yet been received, but Russian airline Aeroflot appears to be the top candidate to take the stake in its SkyTeam partner. Russian daily Vedomosti reported over the weekend that Aeroflot will shortly make an offer.

The Czech government hopes to get EUR180 million for its controlling stake.

CSA has been suffering from increased low-fare airline competition and a weakness in business travel. Also, neighbor Austrian is channeling a lot of Eastern European traffic through its Vienna hub.

Photo: SkyTeam