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| Fraport to modernise Ljubljana Airport and avoid regional acquisitions |
German operator Fraport, which purchased a 75.5% stake in Ljubljana Airport last Friday, and intends to acquire the remaining 24.5%, has promised a long term investment in Slovenia’s busiest airport. Fraport CEO Stefan Schulte says the airport will be upgraded and modernised but stopped short of committing to building a new terminal in the near future. According to Mr. Schulte, Fraport is a long-term investor who is not looking for short-term benefits. The new owner intends to develop both passenger and cargo traffic at the airport. Mr. Schulte expects that Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport will continue to record growth in both segments. Fraport’s first task will be to provide an even better service to passengers and the German operator has committed itself to modernising the current passenger terminal. Mr. Schulte also expects the number of employees to grow at the airport as business expands.
However, projects for the construction of a new terminal and a new runway will depend on passenger growth and are not planned in the near future. Last year, the airport‘s minority shareholders, which are about to sell their stake to Fraport, rejected a government plan to build a new terminal at the airport. The CEO of Jože Pučnik Airport, Zmago Skobir, believes the acquisition on behalf of Fraport is a major milestone in the airport’s development. Mr. Skobir expects new airlines and routes to come following the deal. The Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SDH), which handled the sales process, says, "We have achieved the highest price possible and exceeded our original expectations. It is a case of good practice and time will show that the selected buyer is capable of ensuring optimal development of the airport".
Meanwhile, Fraport has ruled out any further acquisitions in the former Yugoslavia following comments made by the Serbian government that the German operator had expressed interest in Belgrade Airport. “The company has no plans of acquiring some of the other airports in the region, and will focus only on Ljubljana”, Fraport said. As part of the sale, the company which manages one of Europe's biggest hubs, Frankfurt Airport, will be granted a forty year lease on most of the land on which Ljubljana Airport’s infrastructure is located.
Good. No meglomania;
ReplyDeleteso now French, Turks and Germans own airports in ex-Yu. That leaves the Arabs to come to BEG and Bosnia and Montenegro left as the only ones not to have sold their airports.
ReplyDeleteSo what? Goverment is the worst owner.
DeleteBTW, biggest stakeholder in Fraport are local goverments. LH owns around 10%
Delete@AnonymousSeptember 9, 2014 at 9:29 AM Zagreb airport was leased not sold, 30 year lease for 323 million euro, none of the other airports in Croatia were sold or planned to be sold off to anyone. Although there are plans to sold Brac, Rijeka and Osijek airport to someone, so far no luck.
DeleteSplit, Dubrovnik, Pula and Zadar airport might be leased at some point in the future to obtain more finance but I don't see them ever being sold off. There are plans to form one Croatian agency for civil airports and aviation, which should manage all 7 major airports in Croatia, Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Pula, Rijeka and Osijek.
Even though Zagreb airport is leased it'll still be part of the new agency's portfolio for the owners are the state and the city of Zagreb and not the French operator.
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DeleteOT:
ReplyDeleteSKP i OHD 159.153 +21% (Jan-Aug +18%)
Number of Flight:
+11% (Jan-Aug +10%)
*Tomorrow separate number for SKP and OHD
This is good news. It's also fantastic that Adria will finally get a really ally when it comes to its expansion. I always had a feeling that the airport management wasn't that supportive of them.
ReplyDeleteAll Adria has to do now is to go back to its pre-crisis strategy of Balkan expansion and all will be well. :)
They should also consider getting some Q400. I know they are happy with the CRJ-900 but I think a turboprop would be incomparably more efficient on regional routes. They could also use them on their Tirana and Pristina routes to Italy!
DeleteI wonder if people will demand for them to publish the purchasing agreement like everyone demanded the Serbian government does?
ReplyDeleteNo, they will not because this is an EU company buying an EU one.
DeleteDidn't know you were exempt from it just because both parties are from the EU. I don't think the EU requires companies to publicly reveal their takeover contracts anyway. In most normal countries it is a state secret.
DeleteUh... uh... I see someone is hurt just because his country is not in the EU and because it was forced to make a shady deal with the Arabs. lol
DeleteI'm not hurt that I'm not in the EU... It would just be nice for there not to exist double standards. Since we can't see the deal with Fraport I can claim this is a shady deal with the Germans.
Deletedon't worry, the contract will be published for sure even if nobody ask for it...
ReplyDeleteSeems like there was another emergency landing at Belgrade airport. A Travel Service B737-800 (OK-TVE) just took off. Anyone have more information on it?
ReplyDeleteOT:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.poslovni.hr/hrvatska/ek-odobrio-preuzimanje-zaic-a-koncesionara-zagrebacke-zracne-luke-278811
Ima li nekih vesti o Er Srbiji... Bas odavno nije bilo nikakvih?
ReplyDeletePa evo imas danas sa leve strane u newsflash sekciji
DeleteIma već 7 dana se zna da će zimski red letenja biti osakaćen preko svake mere, čak gore nego zima prošle godine, neke rute i 50 odsto u odnosu na leto. Ali to nije vest. Ako nije dobro ili bar nije prezentirano kao dobro onda se ne objavljuje.
DeleteZašto pričaš gluposti? kakav zimski red letenja gori nego prošle godine? Jedno je što bi ti voleo a drugo je ono što će stvarno biti.
Delete@ AnonymousSeptember 9, 2014 at 11:11 PM.
DeleteLike every single year, this site publishes summer and winter changes for each national EX-YU carrier in the weeks leading up to the start of the new season (this has been the case for the past six years). By clicking on the tags on the left hand side you will easily find such information and rest assured Air Serbia's winter changes will be published too. It is too early at the moment and none of the schedules are finalised. 2014/15 winter season begins on October 25. Don't expect to find news on winter changes here before September 25;