Netherlands-based investment fund, Tripod Investment Management, has acquired SmartLynx Airlines (6Y, Riga) the Latvian ACMI/charter specialist has announced.
Though it confirmed the acquisition did occur at some point in 2016, SmartLynx did not reveal the transaction's value.
“This offers us broader financial opportunities, and we feel strong support from the investor, so we can feel safer about the future and come up with more ambitious goals,” Zygimantas Surintas, SmartLynx Airlines CEO, said.
With its new ownership in place, SmartLynx plans to expand its fleet and its market coverage to include regions where seasonality is minimal.
“In Europe, our business is subject to seasonal shifts, and the market is most active from May until October," Surintas added. "For that reason, it is important for us to enter markets that have no seasonality, and that means that we will continue to seriously develop our operations outside of Europe, particularly in Asia."
The CEO added that aside from boosting its Vietnamese base with flights to Cambodia, India, the Philippines, and Malaysia, SmartLynx is also studying the Americas.
"We’re also going to try to enter the North American and Canadian market. Our plan is to offer flights from Canada to Latin America and the Caribbean islands.”
SmartLynx Airlines operates nine aircraft at present - eight A320-200s and one A321-200 - for third party carriers that include easyJet, Jetstar Pacific, Thomas Cook Airlines UK, Sun d'Or International Airlines, and Novair. Of the three A320-200s on its SmartLynx Airlines Estonia AOC, one each operates for TUI fly (Belgium) and Air Malta. It has since abandoned plans for its nascent African unit - SmartLynx Airlines Cabo Verde - citing viability concerns.
