Triniti has advised Estonian national airline Nordica on the acquisition of the remaining 49% of Regional Jet OU (Xfly), a joint venture between it and Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT.
According to Triniti, “Poland’s national carrier LOT acquired a 49% share in Nordica’s subsidiary Xfly in November 2016. The two airlines then started working together at a variety of levels, including sharing a ticket sales platform and operating flights, first between Tallinn and Warsaw and later on other routes. The Estonian and Polish carriers outsourced flight operation services from Xfly, which has since become the biggest Estonian airline." According to the firm, "both Nordica and LOT had big plans for Xfly, but the global pandemic saw the airlines’ operations all but grind to a halt overnight and they were forced to focus instead on simply staying alive. While LOT and Nordica are continuing to cooperate commercially, the decision was taken to place Xfly in majority ownership to ensure the subsidiary’s long-term future.”
“Although the negotiations went on for a very long time, I’m really happy with the agreement we’ve reached,” commented Chairman of Nordica's Management Board, Erki Urva. “It’s also important that in the ‘breaking-up’, as it were, we’ve managed to stay friends, which ensures that our commercial cooperation will continue. All this means that Estonia’s national airline is now the 100% owner of Xfly, which operates as a capacity provider, giving us the freedom to make quick decisions ourselves if we need to – which is vital considering how much the coronavirus crisis has shaken up the aviation market.”
Triniti’s team included Partner Tonis Tamme and Senior Associate Ain Kalme.
