In a statement, the new board chairman advised that Finland should reduce its controlling stake in the national flag carrier Finnair. With the absence of government interests, the airline would be flexible enought to seek out alliances and even enter into merger and acquisition deals.
This observation was made by Klaus W. Heinemann, as the airline was in the black for the first time after undertaking austerity measures. The main issue now is the competition provided by budget airlines and discount carriers.
Heinemann said, "In order to give Finnair access to all available growth options in the global market, flexibility of the state ownership is good news." He added that airline industry is scaling back government ownership and many airlines that have divested state shareholdings have been able to perform well under the current market conditions.
This may be a prickly issue as labor unions pressure politicians to reserve the status quo, thus avoiding any of the regular options available for the airline to remain competitive.
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