Bid for Serbian carrier: Air India officials had been in Belgrad

An official at Air India confirmed that the airline was interested in Serbia's national carrier, Jugoslavenski Aerotransport (JAT), but declined to comment further.
The JAT spokeswoman said Air India officials had been in Belgrade on Friday to conduct due diligence on the 80-year-old Serbian airline, which the newly formed Serbian government has promised to sell off at the end of this year.
She said Air India was interested in using the privatisation of JAT as an opportunity to acquire a hub in Europe.
If Air India decides to push ahead, it faces the prospect of a bidding war with Russia's Aeroflot, believed to be the only other serious suitor for the Serbian carrier.
Mirjana Dragovic, a spokeswoman for JAT, told the Financial Times: "Air India and JAT are talking about an eventual merger or other kind of partnership."
Until recently, Air India – itself a lumbering state-run carrier – would have been considered unlikely to be the country's first airline to become involved in an offshore merger or acquisition.
But V Thulisadis, Air India's chairman, has been trying to reshape the airline to meet increasing competition from aggressive privately owned domestic carriers and from overseas rivals such as Emirates and Singapore Airlines.
The new coalition between Serbia's pro-western and moderate nationalist parties took office last month, promising to revive stalled economic reforms and restart the country's pre-accession talks with the European Union.
Serbian officials said Aeroflot – which already code-shares with JAT on some flights – had been the only bidder to put forward a serious offer so far.
03/06/07 Neil MacDonald/Joe Leahy/FT.com/MSNBC

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Air India Jun 2007, Foreign Jun 2007