Lufthansa has been active in the acquisition field in the last few days, with the maintenance side of the business purchasing Hawker Pacific and the parent company taking a 25% stake in European regional Eurowings.
Lufthansa Technik (LHT) is set to become one of the world's largest landing gear repair specialist following the announcement that it is taking control of US company Hawker Pacific. The deal involves the purchase of an initial 40% of Hawker's stock from major shareholder Unique Investment. It will eventually be able to take 64% of the equity.
Hawker Pacific, with facilities in the USA and Europe, has a 20% share in the large airliner sector, will be merged with LHT's landing gear unit at Hamburg, which has sales of $82 million. Meanwhile, LHT's parent Lufthansa Group has boosted its dominance in the German airline market, following its 25% acquisition of regional carrier Eurowings. The flag carrier will purchase part of Eurowings chairman Albrecht Knauf's 99.91% shareholding, injecting badly needed investment, particularly for fleet renewal, into the airline, which has seen its profits and margins slump. The deal also brings Eurowings, which serves 62 destinations, into the Star Alliance fold.
Separately, Eurowings has revised its co-operation agreement with Dutch flag carrier KLM offering "a shorter term and more flexible arrangement". Under the new deal, Eurowings will fly routes between Germany and Amsterdam with KLM liveried aircraft.
• Lufthansa CityLine has doubled its orderbook for the Bombardier CRJ700 with the firming up of its 10 options, and is discussing a commitment for 10 more aircraft. CityLine is to receive the first of its initial batch of 70-seat CRJ700s early next year, from its original order in September 1998 for 10 aircraft plus 10 options. The new order will arrive between 2002 and 2003. Bombardier says that the German regional airline is "considering options for an additional 10 CRJ700s" which would take its orders to 30 aircraft. Lufthansa CityLine says the options could include some 50-seat CRJ-200s.
The deal comes despite the airline's commitment for the rival Fairchild Dornier 728JET, for which it holds 60 orders and 60 options. At the time, CityLine was due to receive its 728JET in the second half of 2002, however, the programme has slipped and is not now due to enter service until mid-2003. The additional CRJ700s will help the airline to bridge this gap and provide growth and flexibility for any further delays.
Source: Flight International
