Gandalf Airlines, now Italy's second largest regional carrier after Air Dolomiti, aims to continue its rapid expansion by buying up, or into, other Italian regionals.
Finance for the expansion will come from a recourse to the European New Markets exchange, where a second issue in July raised L30 billion ($14 million), boosting the company's overall capital to L55 billion. This was badly needed to cover first half losses of L8.5 billion, based on a turnover of L9.3 billion.
Chief executive Luciano Di Fazio is talking to two other Italian regionals which, like Gandalf, also operate Fairchild Dornier 328JETS.
Italian analysts suggest that a controlling interest in Meridiana is not beyond the bounds of possibility for Gandalf, but the airline would not confirm any talks with the Sardinian-based carrier. The Aga Khan has been seeking a partner for Meridiana for some time.
While Di Fazio hopes to see the results of his acquisition talks soon, traffic continues to grow steeply at Gandalf. Based on first half passenger numbers of 68,000, he believes the airline will have carried 250,000 passengers by year-end, compared with 44,000 in the whole of last year.
Di Fazio has also moved to boost the fleet, which should consist of 10 328-300JETs and four 328 turboprops by year-end. All aircraft are leased from a banking consortium headed by Unicredito of Italy, which has a 12.5% stake in the airline. The extra aircraft will allow the route network out of Gandalf's two Milanese hubs to expand from 50 daily flights to 80 by 31 December, including 19 European destinations.
Source: Airline Business
