AUSTRIAN AIRLINES and Swissair have taken a combined 18% stake in Ukraine International Airlines (UIA), a Kiev-based carrier which serves 12 Western European cities with a fleet of three Boeing 737s.
The two carriers have acquired the stake in profitable UIA through a joint holding company, 78%-owned by Austrian, with Swissair owning 22%. The other shareholders in UIA are the State Property Fund of the Ukraine, with 68.5%, and Irish leasing company GPA, which holds 13.5%. Austrian and UIA already offer joint services between Vienna and Kiev, Odessa and Dnepropetrovsk.
Air Ukraine says that it will make a decision on acquiring leased Boeing 767s or Airbus A310s early in December. It needs the aircraft for services to the USA.
Source: Flight International
