Lufthansa and SAS in merger talks?

[Olle Q]

News from top of the world today:


Copenhagen/Stockholm - Lufthansa is interested in the Scandinavian market and is in talks with the operator of the joint-carrier Scandinavian Airlines, although it would not say if a possible merger is being considered, a news report said Friday, quoting a Lufthansa executive.

“After the German and Italian markets, Scandinavia is one the most important for Lufthansa,” Lufthansa executive Karsten Bentz was quoted as telling Danish daily Jyllands-Posten.

“We wish to be active in the consolidation underway of the European aviation business, and that is an item discussed by the Lufthansa board,” Bentz said.

Bentz declined to comment on a possible merger with SAS but said talks were ongoing, the report said.

SAS management has launched several cost cutting measures in order to reduce losses, and is currently trying to negotiate wage cuts with unions.

Analysts have said such measures are a likely prerequisite for a potential suitor to make a bid.

In mid-December, SAS said it had inked a preliminary deal to sell its Spanish subsidiary Spanair to a group of investors and also announced it was to sell its stake in the Latvian national airline, airBaltic.

The governments of Norway, Sweden and Denmark own a 50-per-cent stake in SAS, while private shareholders hold the rest.

SAS shares gained some 3.8 per cent in early trading Friday on the Stockholm bourse.