Global advisory firm Swiss Aviation Consulting has expressed interest in acquiring Air India, according to a senior official in the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
The European firm is an independent advisory group offering services such as aircraft asset management, aircraft sales and acquisition support, risk management, strategic and operational advisory and flight training, among others.
Founded in 2005, the Hunenberg-headquartered firm has affiliates in the UAE, Malaysia and South Africa, according to its website. An e-mail query to the firm on the disinvestment issue remained unanswered.
The company’s keenness to buy Air India was shared with the Ministry of Civil Aviation months before the Centre formally invited bidders to participate in the disinvestment process. Though a foreign private player was said to have been interested at the time, Ministry officials had remained tight-lipped about its identity.
The official, however, did not mention whether the Swiss firm had formally written to the ministry about its desire to pick up stake in the national carrier. Last month, the Ministry of Civil Aviation invited expression of interest in Air India’s disinvestment process and shared the broad contours of the stake sale. The government has offered management control and 76% share in Air India along with its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express and 50% per cent stake in AISATS, a ground-handling joint venture with Singapore Airport Terminal Services.
The last date for submission of the EoI is May 14 and intimation to qualified interest bidders would be made on May 28.
IndiGo’s exit
Market leader IndiGo was the first to formally write to the government with an interest in the national carrier but pulled out of the race last week on the grounds that it was primarily interested in Air India’s international operations and Air India Express.
Potential bidders
The Tata group and Singapore Airlines are also potentially open to bidding for the national carrier. According to a media report, a consortium of Jet Airways, Air France-KLM and Delta Airlines is also believed to have shown its willingness to buy stake in Air India.
Ground-handling agencies including the Bird Group and Turkey’s Celebi too had written to the Ministry with a specific interest in buying Air India’s ground-handling arm, Air India Airport Transport Services Ltd.
Foreign entities, including airlines, can invest up to 49% in Air India under the government approval route, under the condition that substantial ownership and effective control rests with an Indian national.
