Latvian group Baltic Aviation Systems will be the sole bidder for troubled JAT Airways, Serbia’s infrastructure ministry said.
“The Latvian company has purchased transaction papers … and we are now awaiting their offer,” it said on Monday.
Serbia has previously failed to sell a majority stake in JAT to Turkish Airlines . A first tender for the sale of a 51 percent stake in JAT, priced at 51 million euros ($72 million), failed in 2008.
On Sept. 30, Serbia extended the deadline for the current tender by a month to allow potential investors to make offers. [ID: nL5E7KU27P]
BAS is a shareholder in Latvia’s troubled Air Baltic flag carrier, with a 47.2 percent stake.
Under the terms of the current tender offer, companies with investment in airlines of at least 5 percent, had to show a consolidated balance sheet of more than 200 million euros and the transit of more than 1.5 million passengers in 2010.
JAT Airways, which made a 2009 loss of 16.5 million euros and has a fleet of 15 aircraft, has borrowed 51.5 million from the government to renew its fleet and prepare for a new partnership.
According to the Association of European Airlines, JAT Airways had a January-August passenger load factor of 68.5 percent, up 8.7 percentage points. It carried 781,400 passengers in the period, up 18.4 percent.
