Herbert Kaufmann, chairman of the board of directors of Flughagen Wien AG (Vienna Airport) welcome the initiative of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to establish cooperation with the Vienna Airport. "We believe the cooperation of both airports is meaningful and we will try to develop it," stated Mr. Kaufmann, adding "we are glad that the Slovak Prime Minister has changed his mind positively on the subject."
Prime Minister Robert Fico announced last week continuing negotiations with his Austrian counterpart about joint utilization of the Bratislava Airport after meeting with Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, and mentioned the possibility of establishing a joint venture with the Austrian Airport. "Nothing has been finalized yet, work groups are debating the form of cooperation. We have to be convinced that eventual cooperation with Vienna Airport will be beneficial," stated Robert Fico and emphasized that the Slovak government is not going to privatize the airport.
In reaction to the initiative of the prime minister, representatives of M. R. Stefanik - Airport Bratislava (BTS), a.s. said that the company is not ruling out possible cooperation with Vienna Airport. They think it is too soon to talk of concrete forms of cooperation, but they declared that it is important for both partners to be on the same page.
The previous Slovak government wanted to privatize the Bratislava Airport, but despite its efforts, it has stayed in the hands of the state. The current government did not permit its privatization after the TwoOne consortium failed to submit the Slovak Antitrust Office's approval of the concentration by August 15 as foreseen in the transaction documents. Vienna Airport was a member of the consortium.
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