Paris (AFP)

Sale in the cut, full recovery, liquidation? A series of potential buyers have expressed interest Monday for Aigle Azur by presenting different projects, but the future remains unclear for the 1,150 employees of the company.

A total of 14 resumption offers have been filed, said Monday the CFDT after a meeting between unions and Secretary of State for Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari.

"Two main offers evoked during the meeting," said the president of SNPL Aigle Azur, Martin Surzur, speaking to a hundred employees of the company in receivership, gathered before the Ministry of Transport at the call of FO.

"We will have the details this afternoon during the meeting of the EC (works council, editor's note)" of the specialist of the service of Algeria, he added, specifying that the buyers will be able to "outbid" on Tuesday and Wednesday.

An extraordinary works council was to meet at 3:00 pm to discuss the resumption proposals. Its members must decide Wednesday evening on the offer that seems to best meet the interests of the company and its employees.

Air France, which had been mentioned in recent days as a potential buyer, has confirmed to AFP have submitted an offer, without giving the content in the immediate future.

- Total or partial offer? -

"Two natures of offers seem to emerge, namely in the whole or in the bias of the resumption of activity and staff, we will be very attentive to what we will be offered in detail," commented his Denis Sanchez, FO union representative.

Before the meeting with the unions, Mr. Djebbari stressed the importance of finding a lasting solution for the company, which employs 1,150 people, including 800 in France and 350 in Algeria.

"We must find a solution that is not a precarious solution to three four or five months, we must build the future," he said while coming to greet the protesters.

Among the proposals are several partial resumption offers. The Dubreuil group, the majority owner of Air Caraïbes, has confirmed to AFP that it has submitted such an offer without giving details of its content.

Lu Azur, headed by Gérard Houa, already a 20% shareholder in Aigle Azur, also said in a statement that it had proposed taking over 90% of the business.

For its part, EasyJet has confirmed to AFP "have expressed interest in the operations of Aigle Azur Orly". Vueling did the same, according to a union source.

The major Spanish low cost player is primarily interested in the landing slots that Aigle Azur has in Paris-Orly. This is a set of 9,800 annual slots at this airport where the total for all companies is capped at 250,000.

- Worry -

At the end of the meeting, Raphaël Caccia, secretary CFDT transport branch, said he was "worried about the ground staff", or 400 people according to him. "There are also 350 people in Algeria for whom we have no answer," he said.

According to the CFDT, Air France would take 70% of the staff based in France and Dubreuil offer 106 people. With these two offers combined, there would still be 150 people on the floor.

The commercial court will have to decide on the future of the companion next Monday during a hearing, according to the unions.

In receivership, Aigle Azur is in such a financial stalemate that it can neither financially compensate its customers, nor even ensure the repatriation of travelers whose return flight has been canceled.

The question of compensation and repatriation of travelers remains unresolved.

"Of the 19,000 passengers who found themselves in difficulty at the height of the crisis, there are still 13,000," said Monday Mr. Djebbari. "Of which 11,000 on flights with Algeria, 600 with Mali, then Portugal, Russia, Lebanon, and a few dozen people with Brazil, Ukraine and Senegal".

With its 11 aircraft, Aigle Azur carried 1.88 million passengers in 2018.

cda-dec-jug-vac / st / ide

© 2019 AFP