Is it too late? Jat’s final chance for privatisation

After nearly 10 months of meetings and 14.000 pages of documentation Jat’s privatisation is set to begin within the next 7 days. Jat management has voiced their disapproval at the duration of the privatisation process fearing that the airline has drastically smaller chances of being successfully privatised now that the price of fuel has grown considerably and that the privatisation of CSA Czech Airlines and Austrian should start soon which could attract airlines which had previous aspiration towards Jat.

The tender for the submission of offers should commence July 23. By the end of summer a special commission will rank the offers Jat has received in terms of which company has offered the best deal in the long term. A Serbian tabloid suggests on its front page publication today that Aeroflot has decided not to bid for Jat Airways. Aeroflot was the most interested buyer promising big investments and job security for those employed in the airline. Are they still interested? One cannot trust the source of the news, due to its many previous inaccuracies, however it is certain that the global economic situation will not benefit Jat in any way. Currently the only known of and confirmed airlines interested in Jat are Aeroflot from Russia and Icelandair from Iceland. Air India confirmed they have dropped out of the race a few months ago.