AF confirms bid for Aigle Azur
Sep 9, 2019, 3:38 pm
#1
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AF confirms bid for Aigle Azur
Originally Posted by France 24
Air France on Monday confirmed it had offered to buy the bankrupt carrier Aigle Azur, France’s second-largest airline, which suspended flights last week leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
Aigle Azur, which employs almost 1,200 staff, filed for bankruptcy and abruptly suspended flights last week after heavy losses prompted a shareholder coup that ousted the chief executive.
Potential buyers had until midday on Monday to present their offers.
A spokesperson for Air France confirmed rumours of a bid, without giving further details. The rumours sent stocks tumbling in early trade, with Air France-KLM shares shedding up to 8%.
Aigle Azur, which employs almost 1,200 staff, filed for bankruptcy and abruptly suspended flights last week after heavy losses prompted a shareholder coup that ousted the chief executive.
Potential buyers had until midday on Monday to present their offers.
A spokesperson for Air France confirmed rumours of a bid, without giving further details. The rumours sent stocks tumbling in early trade, with Air France-KLM shares shedding up to 8%.
Sep 9, 2019, 5:44 pm
#2
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The only interesting things in this deal are the ORY slots and traffic rights on Algeria routes and certainly not a money-losing airline like Aigle Azur. AF has for sure a unique opportunity to capture an important part of the huge traffic between France and Algeria but also at the condition to have attractive fares, a key aspect on such routes.
Sep 10, 2019, 12:02 pm
#4
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If AF does buy them, will AF be forced to retain the employees?
Sep 10, 2019, 2:46 pm
#6
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I have never flown Aigle Azur but definitely feel sad to see another airline ceased operation. As a customer, we lost a choice.
Sep 11, 2019, 2:49 am
#7
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Aigle Azur has pretty bad reviews, which is typical for a low cost airline. Their turnover seemed very low vs. the number of people carried. Apart from the slots it seems completely worthless, indeed a possible integration to Transavia but the AF crews may not like this. They should make a lowball offer to please the State , e.g. take the good planes and use some of the staff and routes, but ideally for them they should split the costs and slots with competitors. According to an Aigle employee none of the 14 offers is good enough so noone is that interested.