Airline Management Solutions, which was founded a month ago by four Romanian individuals, has won the auction to take over Blue Air. Earlier Friday, representatives of Casa de Insolventa Transilvania (CITR), the court-appointed administrator of insolvent firm Romstrade, which owns Blue Air, said the auction winner is a Belgian-Romanian joint-venture.
CITR official Andrei Cionca said the actual transfer of the airliner’s operations will be completed within ten to 30 days. He also said Blue Air’s entire staff, namely, 520 people, will be taken over by the new owner.
According to Cionca, the winner of the auction has fulfilled all requirements, among which, a downpayment of 6 million lei (EUR1.38 million), which allows the airliner to continue its activity.
The transaction consists in taking over the Blue Air brand, the know-how and the sales platform, but not the airliner’s assets.
News agency MEDIAFAX reported Thursday that three investors had reached the qualification stage to acquire the airliner, but only two of them had submitted final bids. It said a company owned by local businessman Dan Adamescu, a consortium which includes Medallion Air, owned by Victor Dumitrescu, and a company based in Belgium, had remained in the race to acquire Blue Air, but only the last two had submitted final bids.
Blue Air and construction company Romstrade are the largest companies controlled by businessman Nelu Iordache, who is currently awaiting trial on charges of money laundering involving his construction company Romstrade.
Blue Air carried 1.45 million passengers in 2012 and its annual sales reach around EUR150 million. Its main rival, low-cost airline Wizz Air, carried 2.7 million passengers and estimates to carry 3 million passengers in 2013. (EUR1=RON4.3395)