Bidding for the airline opening in September

Published: 5/23/2000

Bulgaria's second airline Hemus Air will be sold off by the end of this year, with bidding for the carrier opening in September, according to Apik Garabedyan, Deputy Transport and Communications Minister. Earlier reports suggested that the Ministry of Transport were opposed to the privatisation in the short term because of the airline's financial stability, but had been overruled by the Privatisation Agency, despite the ongoing problems at flag carrier Balkan Airlines. According to recent local media reports, the airline currently operates a fleet of six Tu-134s and six Yak-40s, in addition to a Let L-410 and leased Tu-154 operates seven international routes including Bratislava and Bucharest, two domestic routes along with charter flights. The number of aircraft appears however, to be a substantial increase on numbers last year. According to the government the airline made a profit of $91,300 last year, which was reported to be the same as 1998.

Article ID: 1805