Estonian Economy Minister Juhan Parts and representatives of SAS and the investment bank Cresco were due to meet on February 20 to negotiate options for moving forward with Estonian Air. If an agreement on the future of the airline is to be reached, official decisions are likely to be made at a shareholder meeting planned for the end of the month. Although Estonian Air has already cut back on its flight schedules, the summer schedules could become even sparser. “There is no doubt that market expectations and signals are anything but encouraging,” admitted Olev Schults, chairman of the supervisory board of Estonian Air and a representative of Cresco. “I think that the conservative approach at Estonian Air and activities towards continued cost cutting are the only correct option.” According to information quoted by the online edition of Aripaev on Friday, Estonian Air currently needs an additional EEK 100 million (EUR 6.4 million) in investment.

Eesti Paevaleht, 2009-02-20