French postal service La Poste has selected Dublin-based freight operator Air Contractors as the preferred bidder for its airline subsidiary Europe Airpost.
Paris Charles de Gaulle-based Boeing 737-300 operator Europe Airpost performs overnight mail and freight missions and operates pan-European charter flights by day.
La Poste's board met yesterday to select a preferred bidder for Europe Airpost, which was put on the market in February.
Although La Poste declines to comment on the number or identity of the bidders, Aigle Azur, Air Contractors and Icelandic firm Avion Aircraft Trading, acting together with undisclosed business partners, are understood to have been in the running.
La Poste says: "We are in exclusive discussions with Air Contractors. These will last some weeks."
It says the Air Contractors bid will be discussed over the coming days and weeks. Air Contractors could not be reached for comment.
Dublin-based freight operator and lessor Air Contractors has a mixed fleet, comprising six Airbus A300s, 15 ATR 42s, eight ATR 72s, four Fokker F27s, a Lockheed Hercules and seven Shorts 360s. It operates an average of 14,000 sectors annually to 30 destinations in 14 countries.
Air Contractors is owned by South African firm Imperial group and Belgian shipping firm CMB. Its group is active in freight operations, leasing, engineering and aircraft support and pilot recruitment.
Source: Flight International
