National carrier of the UAE bids for the national carrier of Montenegro
One of the world’s most renowned airlines and the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, Etihad Airways, has purchased tender documentation for the 30% takeover of Montenegro Airlines, the “Pobjeda” newspaper reports. Etihad is the third airline to purchase the tender documentation, following Arkia Israeli Airlines and El Al Israel Airlines.Etihad Airways is one of the fastest growing airlines in the world. In seven years of rapid growth, Etihad has flown over 26 million passengers on more than 180.000 flights to destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Australia, Europe, North America, and Asia. To date this year, Etihad has carried over 6 million passengers and is expected to carry more than 7.3 million passengers by the end of the 2010, compared to 6.3 million in 2009.
The tender for the 30% takeover of Montenegro’s national carrier closes in just over a month, on December 15.
HAHAHA YES!! I said wouldn't it be nice if Emirates acquired Montenegro, i was close, Etihad instead appear interested!
ReplyDeleteI'm loving it!
ReplyDeleteFinance.si announced potential buyers of Adria's max 49% share. Qatar, Emirates, Turkish and Lufthansa. First talks with Qatar Airways were held in Qatar earlier this week.
ReplyDeleteexcellent news. it seems that montenegro airlines actually is a good opportunity for investment after all.
ReplyDeleteit is quite amazing how montenegrins managed to create a competitive environment between israelis and arabs when it comes to their national carrier.
Why would such a huge airline want Montenegro? Don't the Middle Eastern carries have close to free rein in terms of flying rights? I just don't see what an airline the size of Etihad would do with Montenegro Airlines. I could understand if say Turkish was interested, or Olympic, but Etihad...seems strange.
ReplyDelete1.
ReplyDeleteFirst thing first: they're not 'in the race' for "the 30% takeover of Montenegro Airlines," but have simply purchased the tender documentation. Making a bid is another matter. Only then can they be 'in the race.'
2.
Purchasing 30% of the company does not represent a takeover, hence the sentence "for the 30% takeover of Montenegro Airlines" does not make sense.
3.
The subtitle of the report is completely inaccurate. They have not place a bit yet, so "National carrier of the UAE bids for the national carrier of Montenegro" is misleading.
4.
WOW! How exciting! This airline is from another planet. Etihad is growing so fast, it's unreal. And they are ambitious, very ambitious. The Emirati leadership wants to break its total reliance on oil, so it's seeking extremely ambitious growth of it's tourist and travel interests.
5.
Where does Montenegro Airlines fit in all this? I am not sure and I wouldn't be surprised if Etihad does not know at this point. They may have an idea but they're so ambitious that they could simply purchase airlines in the hope that eventually they'll join them up together. The strong points for YM are that they're European (an inviting market) and that they have access to the Adriatic/Mediterranean Sea (an even more inviting market). Plus, they're really small and can grow a lot.
6.
Still, simply getting 30% of Montenegro Airlines or even taking over completely the airline is not the whole picture. If they really are interested they'll probably want to do something much bigger with/in Montenegro. Alternatively, they might want to purchase a whole range of (Southeast) European airlines and simply feed traffic towards anywhere in Asia, Australia or Africa via Abu Dhabi. Or, it could simply be that they think it could be a profitable airline and who does not want profits? Haha.. ;)
At some point in the future the airline might fit into their 'world domination' plan.
I am just as surprised as anybody about this. But like VisitKosovo said, they only got documentation and they did not place a bid yet. Although they are taking the necessary steps. But this is definitely a better airline than the Israeli carriers. But I too am wondering why would such a prestigious airline go for Montenegro Airlines? I mean it's not even close to being the leading carrier in the region, and it still hasn't posted its profit margin report...which I'm guessing is in the red.
ReplyDeleteFinally an airline that actually can make a difference in the balkans with its wealth and size. I personally dont think that the Israeli carriers will be able to invest in Montenegro, they would simply provide them with one or two crap second hand aircraft just like Turkish has done with BH but Ethiad has the potential to do so much more. Hopefully Jat will in future see a bidding process like this.
ReplyDeleteMontenegro could lease one B777-300 from Etihad and open flights from Podrogrica to USA, Canada and Australia :-)))))))))))))))))))))
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if anyone knows here but Etihad has never reported a profit. Quite opposite to rival Emirates who has reported a profit every year, except one.
ReplyDeleteEY has a very different business plan and outlook to what YM/Montenegro Govt are looking for.
ReplyDeleteIf nothing else, at least it provides some healthy competition to the two Israeli companies (one of which doesn't even make the bar for conditions of sale).