Russian airline Aeroflot and French national carrier Air France are watching the developing situation at Austrian Airlines (AUA) closely with a view to possibly taking a stake in the carrier, both chief executives told weekly current affairs magazine Format on Friday. AUA is currently in the market for a new strategic investor after Saudi businessman Sheikh Mohammed Bin Issa Al-Jaber recently pulled out of a 150 million euro investment in the Austrian flagship carrier. “We are studying the situation at Austrian Airlines and are looking at was is happening there,” the Russian airline's chief executive Valery Okulov told Format. “We have experience in how an airline should be restructured,” Okulov added. Independently, Air France chief Jean-Cyril Spinetta said his carrier was “observing developments” at AUA, but added that priority for his airline remains Alitalia and the Italian market. “It is still too early to talk about it, for now we are just waiting,” Spinetta said. AUA shocked investors in April after publishing a sharp net loss for the first quarter, after the once-troubled airline in February had reported a return to profitability for the full year thanks to an extensive restructuring program. According to a report in Germany's Handelsblatt at the end of May, the Austrian state holding OIAG, which holds 42.75 percent in AUA, has asked the carrier's executive board to assess a potential privatization as a result. Handelsblatt also cited both Deutsche Lufthansa and Emirates Airlines are also potential candidates.
