TNT Express to sell airline to ASL

TNT Express on Friday said it has entered an agreement to sell its airline operations, TNT Airways and Pan Air Líneas Aéreas, to ASL Aviation Group.    TNT Express has entered an agreement to sell its airline operations, TNT Airways and Pan Air Líneas Aéreas, to ASL Aviation Group, the company said in a statement Friday.
   Completion of deal is conditioned on the completion of FedEx’s intended acquisition of TNT, which is expected in the first half of 2016.
   Financial terms of the airline’s sale to Dublin, Ireland-based ASL will not be disclosed, TNT said.
   “The change of ownership and control of TNT’s airline operations will ensure continuity of service delivery as well as compliance with EU airline ownership and control rules. It is another step towards closing of the FedEx offer to acquire TNT,” the company said.
   As part of the agreement, ASL will take over the flights operated by TNT Airways and Pan Air Líneas Aéreas from the moment the sale is completed. ASL expects the airlines will maintain contracts with partner airlines, contractors and suppliers. The addition of TNT’s aircraft will boost ASL’s fleet to more than 130 planes. 
   After the sale of TNT to FedEx, employees of both TNT Airways and Pan Air Líneas Aéreas will also become part of ASL, and the aircraft operator plans to keep TNT Airways’ headquarters in Liège, Belgium.
   However, TNT said its Liège hub (Eurohub) is not part of the airline’s sale and will be kept as a “significant operation for the intended FedEx-TNT combination going forward.”