Berlin-based logistics group Zeitfracht Group announced that it wants to buy shares in the Romanian low-cost airline Blue Air and has already applied for approval from the German competition body Bundeskartellamt to pursue this deal.

The project was filed on January 14 for merger control, a Bundeskartellamt spokesman told Airliners.de. According to the application, Zeitfracht Group does not plan a complete takeover of Blue Air, but merely the “acquisition in the view of joint control”.

Founded in 2004, Blue Air is primarily active as a low-cost scheduled airline, but also as a charter and wet-lease carrier. According to Romanian media, it reported a passenger count of 6.2 million and a turnover of EUR 460 million in 2018.

Notably, Blue Air has recently taken over, as part of a consortium, Moldovan flag carrier Air Moldova. Civil Aviation Group, made up of Romanian Blue Air and two Moldovan citizens, offered to pay MDL 1.2 billion (EUR 61.5 million) for Air Moldova, Moldova’s public assets agency (APP) announced on October 2.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Facebook / Blue Air)