May 19, 2004
UK airport operator Planestation has bought a 30 percent stake in Irish airline EUjet, the anchor airline for its international airport in southern England, Planestation said on Wednesday.
Planestation is buying the stake for GBP£2 million (USD$3.6 million).
Low-cost airline EUjet will start European flights from Planestation's Manston Airport in the southern English region of Kent in September, following in the footsteps of low-cost operators easyJet and Ryanair.
"The important part is that we are working together. Because we own the airport, we wanted a flagship airline that uses it as a base," Planestation's Corporate Director Christopher Foster said. "This will help put Manston on the map."
The acquisition makes Planestation the second largest stakeholder in EUjet, after the airline's Chief Executive P J McGoldrick, formerly head of Ryanair.
(Reuters)