LOT GROUP AND DORVISH GOVERNMENT FINALIZE THE DORVISH AIRWAYS DEAL. LOT CALMS THE MARKET DOWN AS ROUMOURS ABOUT MERGER WITH ARTANIA AIRLINES LOOMS.Nowogard,
August 4516LOT announced that Rafał Pasiewski will be the new CEO and Chairman of the Dorvish Airways.
NOWOGARD - LOT Group and the Government of Dorvik have agreed to the conditions of the deal on the purchase of DA by LOT Group. Signed yesterday, the deal makes the Valruzian LOT Group the owner of 100% of the Dorvish flag airline. A significant dose of uncertainty hanged in the air prior to the signing of the deal even after the initial acceptance of the deal by both sides - LOT Group and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Dorvik. After just one round of negotiations, a satisfactory deal has been worked out. LOT Group will incorporate the DA to the Group over the period of upcoming 10 months. According to LOT, out of 203.100 employees of the DA, at least 4.300 will have to be laid off, but the deal between the Group and Haldor provides the priority of recruitment to those laid off.
Pasiewski, LOT's nominee for the position of CEO of the DA, said that one of the first things he will do is to officially withdraw the airline from the AA Alliance and, since the airline is now part of the Group, will automatically be admitted to the Goldstar Alliance. Pasiewski said that the logo and livery of the airline will be refreshed. Dorvish Airways will still be the flag carrier of Dorvik and will serve both domestic and international routes. New CEO said that the domestic routes network will be greatly expanded and the airline will offer new, lower ticket prices to attract new passengers, and rebuild the customer base.
Pasiewski also underlined that as for this moment LOT Group does not want to merge the airline with the Artania Airlines. Recently some roumors have been made that Valruzian LOT will intend to merge the airline with its much more succesful subsidiary Artania Airlines. According to Pasiewski LOT wants to find the best solution to recover the position of DA on the market and despite the fact that an option of merging the two airlines together was initially discussed, it quickly fell under the radar as it raised concerns of LOT’s legal team which warned about anti-monopoly laws in Dorvik. Pasiewski said that LOT gave him some time to find a way to make the airlie profitable again and only if the he fails to do so, an option to merge it with the AA will be brought back on the table.
LOT announced that the fleet of the airline will be updated and the oldest aircraft will be withdrawn and sold or scrapped. It is certain that in the future the airline will use the Reglair i3 family which is the most popular aircraft within the LOT Group used for short and medium-haul routes. Furman, CEO of the VA and the Group, said that the his company will have to be very careful with the DA as the domestic market of Dorvik is very protectionistic and if the new airline will in any way hurt the Dorvik's domestic plane manufacturer, the ADG, it may have negative connotations for the entire group.