Airline News

Turkish Airlines (THY) said Wednesday that it was interested in buying a stake in troubled Austrian flag carrier Austrian Airlines (AUA).

THY is the third company to officially do so after leading German airline Lufthansa and Russia's number two carrier S7.

The airline contacted the relevant authorities "regarding our interest in the privatization tender of Austrian Airlines," THY said in a statement sent to the Istanbul stock exchange.

According to the Austrian daily Oesterreich, a total of six airlines, including Air France-KLM, are in the running to buy the 42.75-percent AUA stake, currently held by the state-owned holding company OeIAG.

OeIAG has until the end of the year to find a partner for AUA, which has nearly 900 million euros (1.4 billion dollars) of debt and lost 48.7 million euros (72 million dollars) in the first six months of 2008.

The Austrian government agreed AUA could be fully privatised on condition that a blocking minority stake of 25 percent plus one share remain in Austrian hands. Most of the airline's shares are currently held by private investors.

Source: news.google.com

Labels: austrian airlines, turkish airlines

Turkish Airlines is the latest airline to join Star Alliance, a global airline alliance which includes carriers such as Singapore Airlines, United and Air New Zealand.

news.smh.com.au

Labels: Star Alliance, turkish airlines

Thousands of aviation workers voted in favor of a strike over a pay dispute with national carrier Turkish Airlines, the company said Thursday.

nytimes.com

Labels: strike, turkish airlines

A Turkish airline workers' union has rejected an offer by Turkish Airlines for talks aimed at avoiding a strike, the airline said on Friday.

reuters.com

Labels: strike, turkish airlines