Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS) announced (15-Oct-2019) its willingness to continue discussions for the definition of a long term plan aimed at formulating a final offer for the purchase of Alitalia SAI SpA and Alitalia Cityliner SpA, with the participation of a partner airline. FS outlined the following conditions for its participation:

• The definition of a new company (Newco) shareholding structure with FS as a minority shareholder;
• The identification of a partner to participate in the capital of Newco with a significant share;
• An agreement between shareholders on the governance structure and senior management of the Newco;
• Final definition of the Newco business plan, which will be managed and implemented by the industrial partner. [more - original PR - Italian]

Atlantia confirmed (15-Oct-2019) its willingness to continue talks aimed at reaching agreement on a long term business plan for the turnaround of Alitalia. Atlantia also confirmed its intention to participate in preparing a binding offer to acquire the businesses belonging to Alitalia SAI SpA and Alitalia Cityliner SpA. This would involve the establishment of a new company (Newco) with the participation of "a leading airline", which would be able to contribute commercial, network, operational, technical and management expertise, would be willing to commit to the implementation of an agreed business plan and would subscribe for shares in Newco. Atlantia stated its participation in formulating the binding offer is dependent on the following considerations:

• Identification of an industrial partner to take a significant stake in Newco;
• Final definition of the Newco's business plan to be agreed and committed to by the industrial partner, which must assume a major role in managing and implementing the plan;
• Conclusion of an agreement with other shareholders on the Newco's governance structure and senior management roles;
• Definition of an ownership structure for the Newco that would see Atlantia play the role of minority shareholder and not involve Atlantia in the Newco's day-to-day operations, with the aim of avoiding potential conflicts of interest, given that Atlantia owns close to a 100% interest in Aeroporti di Roma SpA;
• Atlantia's board also stressed the importance of finding suitable solutions for certain related issues if a binding offer is to be developed, including:
  • The need for the companies in extraordinary administration to be able to manage the businesses through to completion of the transaction and the necessary organisational turnaround, including appropriate social protections;
  • EU clearance for any financing provided to Alitalia;
  • Government measures needed to give Alitalia the necessary stability in order to implement its business plan under market conditions. [more - original PR - English/Italian]

ACI Europe reported (10-Oct-2019) EU airport passenger traffic grew 3.5% year-on-year in Aug-2019, mostly driven by international traffic (+3.9%) rather than domestic traffic (+1.3%). Passenger traffic expanded by 3.2% at non-EU airports, entirely driven by international traffic (+8%) as domestic traffic decreased sharply (-5%).

• EU airport highlights:
  • Airports in Austria and Latvia achieved double digit growth, while Italy and Malta (+8.1%), Croatia (+7.8%), Luxembourg (+7.4%), Finland (+7.3%) and Portugal (+7.1%) significantly outperformed the EU average;
  • Airports in Bulgaria (-5.4%), Sweden (-3.3%), Cyprus (+0.7%), the Netherlands (+0.2%), Germany (+1.2%) and the UK (+1.6%) were all well under the EU average;
• Non-EU airports:
  
  • Airports in Ukraine (+25.1%), North Macedonia (+17.8%), Albania (+13%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (+12.1%) and Serbia (+12%) led the non-EU markets. Russian airports saw passenger traffic growing by +4.9% and those in Turkey by +2.9%, Turkey recovering from its traffic slump in Jul-2019 (-3.5%);
  • Airports in Iceland (-29.4%) were hit by the continued fallout triggered by the bankruptcy of WOW Air, while Georgia (-15.3%) also suffered severe setbacks and Norway was nearly flat (-0.6%). [more - original PR]

Flybe announced (15-Oct-2019) plans to rebrand as Virgin Connect in 2020. Connect Airways CEO Mark Anderson commented: "We will remain true to our heritage and reason for being, which is offering essential regional connectivity to local communities. At its heart, Virgin Connect will be passionately focused on becoming Europe's most loved and successful regional airline. It will offer travel that is simple and convenient with the personal touch". As previously reported by CAPA, Connect Airways is the name of Flybe's holding company, owned 40% by Cyrus Capital Partners, 30% by Stobart Group, and 30% by Virgin Atlantic. [more - original PR]

Nigeria's Minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi reported (15-Oct-2019) there is a requirement for significant investment to facilitate the nation's medium and long term airport infrastructure plans. Mr Amaechi said: "As a result of limited resources for capital projects development, government is exploring the possibility of private sector participation to towards the realization of the industries' potentials". [more - original PR]

Qatar Airways and LATAM Airlines Brazil expanded (14-Oct-2019) their codeshare agreement, effective immediately. The codeshare will provide Qatar Airways passengers with connections to destinations throughout Brazil and South America including Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Curitiba, Lima and Bogota. LATAM passengers will also be able to travel on Qatar Airways' Sao Paulo Guarulhos-Doha service, offering onward connections to more than 25 destinations in the Middle-East, East Africa and South Asia, including Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore. [more - original PR]