Turkish Airlines expresses interest in buying Lot

Turkish Airlines is interested in purchasing Poland's state-owned carrier Polskie Linie Lotnicze Lot, which is currently undergoing restructuring.

According to Turkish Airlines' CEO Temel Kotil, Lot is the only Central European carrier in which Turkish Airlines is interested.

"Yes, I would like to buy Lot," he told the Rzeczpospolita daily in mid-May, stressing that the final decision has not been made.

"In Central Europe I am interested only in Lot, because it fits our business model – the construction of the first ‘five-star' European airline."

The Polish Treasury confirmed that talks are in progress. The Turkish carrier is also in talks with Serbian JAT.

"We are in touch with Turkish Airlines, negotiations are ongoing concerning the strategy for further talks on Lot's privatization," deputy Treasury Minister Zdzisław Gawlik told Rzeczpospolita.

"The talks ... are with more than one entity, but this specific carrier would be a good partner for the company, taking into account the location, network and strategy [of Turkish Airlines]."

The Treasury wants to sell Lot after the company ends restructuring, which has been taking place for several months. Among other measures, the carrier plans to reduce its 3,500 staff by 10 percent.

Treasury representatives have recently said that 2011 is a feasible date for the privatization and they expect Lot to speed up restructuring.

In 2009, Lot registered a net loss of zł.168.1 million, a major improvement from the zł.732 million loss a year earlier. The operational loss in 2009 was zł.335 million, compared to zł.232 million in 2008.
Revenues fell to zł.2.72 billion from zł.2.86 billion a year earlier. The company plans to finish 2010 with a slight net profit. Its total debt amounts to zł.1.867 billion.

Martyna Olik