Patriotism vies with pragmatism in Poland’s latest foreign foray
When Poland’s PM Mateusz Morawiecki announced last month that the country’s national carrier Lot would buy the German charter airline Condor, he was trading in national pride. “Polish companies from all sorts of sectors are expanding, but this expansion of Lot is really symbolic,” he said. “In the past, foreign companies bought up precious Polish assets. It fills my chest with pride that Polish companies can . . . effectively take over foreign assets.” The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, does indeed have political symbolism: the government that ran Poland before Morawiecki’s Law and Justice party considered selling the airline, a fact that Morawiecki, who has made “re-Polonising” Polish assets one of his govt’s main economic policies, did not forget to mention. But the question for taxpayers — Lot’s parent is 100 per cent owned by the Polish treasury — is whether the deal makes economic, rather than patriotic, sense. There are some reasons to think it might. Lot, which has 80 planes and carries 10m passengers a year and Condor, with 60 planes and 9.4m customers, are both small in a European context. Combining will give them more scale in a market where size matters, and could give them more negotiating power in buying things such as fuel and planes. The deal will also make Lot more diversified: it will gain a foothold in another market, landing slots in Frankfurt, and balance its scheduled flights with Condor’s focus on chartered leisure flights. The takeover also adds Condor’s Airbus aircraft to Lot’s Boeing fleet. Finally, despite needing a E380m emergency loan after the collapse of Thomas Cook, its parent company and biggest client, Condor seems healthier than the turmoil around it might suggest. It is not listed, so does not publish detailed figures. But its accounts for the year to September report adjusted operating profit of E57m.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2020-02-06/star/patriotism-vies-with-pragmatism-in-poland2019s-latest-foreign-foray
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Patriotism vies with pragmatism in Poland’s latest foreign foray
When Poland’s PM Mateusz Morawiecki announced last month that the country’s national carrier Lot would buy the German charter airline Condor, he was trading in national pride. “Polish companies from all sorts of sectors are expanding, but this expansion of Lot is really symbolic,” he said. “In the past, foreign companies bought up precious Polish assets. It fills my chest with pride that Polish companies can . . . effectively take over foreign assets.” The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, does indeed have political symbolism: the government that ran Poland before Morawiecki’s Law and Justice party considered selling the airline, a fact that Morawiecki, who has made “re-Polonising” Polish assets one of his govt’s main economic policies, did not forget to mention. But the question for taxpayers — Lot’s parent is 100 per cent owned by the Polish treasury — is whether the deal makes economic, rather than patriotic, sense. There are some reasons to think it might. Lot, which has 80 planes and carries 10m passengers a year and Condor, with 60 planes and 9.4m customers, are both small in a European context. Combining will give them more scale in a market where size matters, and could give them more negotiating power in buying things such as fuel and planes. The deal will also make Lot more diversified: it will gain a foothold in another market, landing slots in Frankfurt, and balance its scheduled flights with Condor’s focus on chartered leisure flights. The takeover also adds Condor’s Airbus aircraft to Lot’s Boeing fleet. Finally, despite needing a E380m emergency loan after the collapse of Thomas Cook, its parent company and biggest client, Condor seems healthier than the turmoil around it might suggest. It is not listed, so does not publish detailed figures. But its accounts for the year to September report adjusted operating profit of E57m.<br/>
