The EU commission has issued a statement approving the merger of Dublin, Ireland-based CityJet DAC and Valencia, Spain-based Air Nostrum: “The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the creation of a joint venture between Fortress Investment Group, of the U.S., and Air Investment Valencia, of Spain. It will combine the activities of CityJet of Ireland and of Air Nostrum of Spain.”
The merger was first announced on July 17 when the two companies signed a Heads of Terms for the creation of a new holding company and the formation of what will become the largest pan-European airline group. CityJet operates a fleet of 44 regional jets on a network of wet lease and scheduled services across Europe. CityJet employs over 1,200 staff with crew bases in Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, Paris, Stockholm, Tallinn and Vilnius. It has wet lease contracts with Air France, Brussels Airlines and SAS with a fleet of over 40 aircraft, operating over 80,000 flights in the last year and carrying over 4.7m passengers.
Air Nostrum manages a fleet of 50 aircraft combining regional jets of the Bombardier CRJ family and ATR72 turboprops under dry lease, wet lease, charter and scheduled services. Air Nostrum workforce is comprised of 1,450 people including its own MRO and ATO. It operates to over 60 airports in more than 15 European and African Countries, exceeding 90,000 flights per year. The consolidated annual gross revenue of Air Nostrum and CityJet would be in the region of €700m (US$777m), derived from a portfolio of wet lease and franchise contracts throughout Europe.
