Having completed all of the necessary prerequisites and received clearances from the competition authorities, Avia Solutions Group (ASG) finalised its purchase of Icelandic freight specialist Bluebird Nordic (Reykjavik Keflavik) on March 31, the Lithuanian group said in a statement.

As previously reported, ASG signed an agreement with existing owner BB Holding on January 24 to acquire 100% ownership of Bluebird.

“As the largest passenger ACMI group in Eastern Europe and considering the current changes in the aviation sector, which come with growing demand not only for narrowbody but also now for widebody cargo services, we are glad to be adding Bluebird Nordic’s portfolio to our group’s operations,” Avia Solutions Group founder and chairman of the board Gediminas Ziemelis said.

The Lithuania-based, Cyprus-headquartered group already owns ACMI/charter specialists Avion Express (X9, Vilnius) and KlasJet (KLJ, Vilnius), MRO firms FL Technics, Helisota, and Jet MS, the Vilnius-based lessor AviaAM Leasing, and around 35 other companies in areas such as crew training, charter, fuel sales, and air traffic control.

It said in January that with its latest acquisition it “steps into the narrowbody ACMI cargo business”.

Bluebird Nordic operates a fleet of one B737-300(F) and five B737-400(F)s for scheduled and charter flights to and from Iceland under its own brand. The -300(F) and one of the -400(F)s are owned and the rest are leased, the ch-aviation fleets module shows.

Bluebird serves more than 100 locations worldwide, but its single scheduled route connects Reykjavik Keflavik with Dublin International, 5x weekly, according to the ch-aviation capacities module.

“We are certain that the company, its employees and customers will feel the benefits of belonging to such a strong aviation industry player,” commented Steinn Logi Björnsson, Bluebird Nordic's managing director.

Avia Solutions Group's consolidated net profit almost doubled in 2018 to EUR14.05 million euros (USD15.35 million) on revenues rising 25% to EUR420 million (USD459 million).