Gov't to seek advisors for Croatia Airlines privatisation ch-aviation PRO exclusive

Air Transat (TS, Montréal Trudeau) has announced it would launch a new route from Toronto Pearson to Split, becoming the maiden carrier to offer intercontinental service from the Croatian airport.

The Canadian leisure specialist will operate a weekly service on the route between June 20 and September 12 of next year.

Air Transat will also continue to operate its seasonal summer 2x weekly service between Toronto and Zagreb. As of 2019, it will operate both flights directly, dropping the stop in Montréal Trudeau.

Currently, Air Transat operates its routes to Zagreb with an A330-200 and will do so as well on the Split route.

According to the ch-aviation capacity module, Split currently sees exclusively European traffic operated mostly by easyJet, Croatia Airlines, and Eurowings.

Adria Airways (JP, Ljubljana), Croatia Airlines (OU, Zagreb), and Hong Kong-based Airmail Limited won 12-month tenders for postal carriage organised by the Slovenian post (Pošta Slovenije).

According to the information published in the official European Union tender register, Adria Airways will receive EUR127,897 euros (USD149,000) for its part of the contract, while the Croatian flag carrier will receive EUR121,979 euros (USD142,000). Airmail Limited scooped the biggest lot of the three with its offer for EUR230,894 euros (USD270,000).

CityJet (WX, Dublin Int'l) and Air Nostrum (YW, Valencia Manises) have announced plans to integrate their respective fleets and crew as part of a new cooperation agreement which, subject to regulatory approval, would create Europe's largest regional airline.

In a joint press conference held during the 2018 Farnborough Air Show, the Irish and Spanish carriers said they had signed a Heads of Terms/Letter of Intent over the creation of a new umbrella holding company which will own both carriers. The deal's parameters were not revealed and are subject to European Commission (EC) scrutiny.

CityJet and Air Nostrum will leverage their combined fleets to win a greater share of the ACMI market where both have a significant presence.

“By coming together, we believe we will be in a position to respond to the specific needs of customer airlines through our flexibility in the provision of safe, dependable and quality assured operations," Pat Byrne, CEO of CityJet said. "Our respective proven capacity and asset management expertise in acquiring aircraft for new wet lease contracts is...