Mubasher: The Etihad Aviation Group (EAG) has approved plans to create a new European leisure airline group in a joint venture with TUI AG, according to a press release.
Etihad says the new airline group will have a fleet of around 60 aircraft, offering 15 million seats capacity per year, and that it will be focused on point-to-point flying to connect key European tourist markets.
The transaction is subject to approvals by aviation regulatory bodies and anti-trust authorities, according to the statement.
The planned transaction includes an agreement for EAG’s subsidiary Etihad Investment Holding Company to acquire the 49.8% share indirectly held by airberlin in its subsidiary airline NIKI Luftfahrt.
After the deal is closed, Etihad will immediately contribute the share in NIKI to the new European leisure airline group and will not effectively control, or become a majority owner of NIKI.
TUI will contribute its subsidiary TUIfly to the joint venture, including the 14 aircraft currently operated by TUIfly for airberlin under a wet-lease agreement.
TUI AG will hold 24.8% of shares in the joint venture company, with Etihad holding a 25% stake, while the remaining 50.2% will continue to be held by the existing private foundation NIKI Privatstiftung.
The new leisure airline group, headquartered in Vienna, is scheduled to begin operations in April 2017, the statement indicated.
