After several ups and downs since its announcement in 2018, the integration of Air Nostrum and CityJet was closed just a week ago. The president of the Valencian airline, Carlos Bertomeu, announced the agreement this Tuesday in a press conference in which he explained the details of the new holding, called SARA for the acronym of the new Strategic Alliance of Regional Airlines. “Each of these companies retains its commercial identity and what they seek is to benefit from economies of scale,” Bertomeu detailed.
The integration is made up of Air Nostrum (80%) and CityJet shareholders, CF Miga Investment Holdings DAC (20%) and involves integrating the 45 aircraft of the Spanish company in addition to the 26 of CityJet and the other three of Hibernian Airlines. Also part of the holding company are Air Nostrum's maintenance company, Anem, and the crew training company, Air Nostrum Training OPS. The synergy will mean an increase in the workload for the Air Nostrum hangar in Valencia, since it will be in charge of maintaining CityJet aircraft and this will require hiring personnel. "We will do it at a better price, but not at a very better price because the war, inflation, etc., have ruined it," acknowledged Bertomeu, who will preside over the holding company.
The union of the companies aspires to be "the largest group of regional airlines in Europe", but all companies will maintain their economic independence. Bertomeu has insisted on this, explaining that "each company will be responsible for its accounts. This is an airline platform in which each company continues to operate under its license and nationality," he reiterated.
At the press conference, the president of Air Nostrum also explained the economic results for 2022, which, after two years, returns to the path of profits, sacrificing these 100% to the fulfillment of payment obligations. The company has grown by 48%, billing 494 million euros and closing the year with profits of 19.5 million. "We had only lost money when we started and in the two previous crises," remarked the businessman, who described the company's debt as "immense" and the Covid-19 crisis as "mother of all crises." "The benefits are a great joy due to the circumstances and also very meritorious," he added.
At the moment, the company has already returned 29 million euros of ICO credits and also has the commitment of the 111 million euros that the Government granted it last year from the Fund to Support the Solvency of Strategic Companies. "Now everything earned has to go to pay the debt by legal imperative," stated the businessman.
The good performance of demand since the second quarter of last year has had a lot to do with the company's recovery. The company has registered a "strong" increase in passengers, more than 55% compared to the previous year, and a recovery in flights, 40%. However, in the current scenario of international conflict - "everything that happens affects aviation, in some way", he said - Carlos Bertomeu has pointed out that "the current situation makes the path of recovery very difficult, without precedents." ".
