Sabena president Paul Reutlinger has again confirmed that Swissair is ready to take a 67% majority share in its Belgian partner, provided that Switzerland is able to join the European Union (EU) single skies agreement.
The Belgian Government sold Swissair a 49.5% stake in its national carrier in mid-1995, and is willing to sell another 17.5%, leaving it with a minority 33% holding. Reutlinger says that the Swiss airline would be prepared to increase its share by the year 2000, but that any deal hinges on a new Swiss-EU bilateral air agreement.
Although Switzerland has turned down full EU membership, Swissair has been pushing hard for the country to sign up for a single skies agreement. Negotiations over the years have made little progress, however, with apparent lack of enthusiasm among the EUtransport ministers and disputes over related road transport issues.
As a non EUcompany, Swissair is not allowed to take control of Sabena, although the option of acquiring a majority stake was a condition of the original deal with the Belgium Government.
Source: Flight International
