Pension funds eye Croatia Airlines - airports takeover
The Association for the Management of Pension Funds has said it is interested in the takeover of a potential holding company comprised of Croatia Airlines and the country’s state-run airports. The model is expected to be officially proposed by the carrier’s privatisation advisors, which have until the end of the month to present the best possible options for the airline. Commenting on the matter, the head of the Association, Kristijan Buk, said, “Even before the government suggested this model, we believed that any investment into Croatia Airlines should be tied up with the airports. Investing in airports means investing in infrastructure, in which we see potential. It involves the tourism sector and the national carrier, so it could be an interesting project for us”.
The head of the Association noted that talks on the matter have already taken place with the government. “We have held initial talks which will resume soon. We are interested but we must determine whether such a venture would be profitable for our members”, Mr Buk said. Airports which are expected to make part of the holding company would include Split, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Pula, Rijeka and Osijek. All of them have been operating with a profit over the past years, with exception to Osijek. The government has been unsuccessful in its quest to privatise Croatia Airlines since 2012 and there is a perceived lack of interest from other players in the aviation industry this time around as well.
One of Croatia’s busiest airports, Split, has said that being part of a holding with the national carrier would entail the airports to allocate funds for the airline. “Investing in an airline would be too risky. It is not in line with aviation trends in the past forty years and it is questionable whether such action is consistent with European Union regulations”. The Director General of the European Region of the Airports Council International (ACI), Olivier Jankovec, has also criticised plans to form an airline - airports holding company. “I have heard about this proposal and I must say I am rather surprised. It isn’t in line with the direction the European aviation industry has been taking in the past thirty years. In fact, it is completely the opposite of what has been happening in the aviation sector”, he said.
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