Lufthansa and Air France / KLM compete to buy bankrupt Flybe

Lufthansa and Air France / KLM are said to be competing to buy Flybe which went out of business last week.

According to news site Preferente on Monday, February 6 the two companies are not bidding to reinstate the airline but rather to acquire their landing rights in the UK. In particular, the companies are said to be after Flybe’s landing slots at Heathrow airport.

Flybe also had landing slots at Schiphol in Amsterdam adding to the value of the defunct company and the interest of the two leading European airlines.

Although Flybe was not the largest of airlines it did operate a number of flights from Heathrow daily, connecting with both regional and European airports.

For both Lufthansa and Air France / KLM the landing slots are vital to their ability to grow their transit offering. The Dutch government has restricted the number of flights that can operate from Schiphol and therefore the only way KLM will be able to expand is through regional slots.

Ordinarily, such slots are offered to the market and get sold at market-related prices, but they are due to expire shortly and therefore there is an urgent need for the administrators to sell them off as quickly as possible.

Slots typically sell for millions, with the last ones purchased by Oman Air going for $85 million a pair.

Slots to busy airports don’t become available often adding to the importance for Lufthansa and Air France / KLM to acquire those owned by Flybe, as others may not become available for years to come.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.