Astraeus sold to Fly Me.
The business section of Morgunblaðið ( leading Icelandic newspaper ) claims
that Fly Me ( of Sweden ) has bought 51% or a controlling interest in UK charter airline
and ACMI provider Astraeus. Fly Me is controlled by Mr Pálmi Haraldsson,
best known for his heroic take-over of Sterling and the subsequent merger
with Maersk, which he has now sold to FL Group, btw at a huge profit.
Rumor has it that PH will sell AEU to FL Group for the latter to use in its efforts to gain a strong foothold in the international charter/acmi business
without involving Icelandic pilot union FÍA and its fatcat members in the venture. The Icelandic holding company is rumored to have tried to
acquire AEU earlier this year but without success. It now remains to be seen
what comes out of this deal, but one thing is sure: PH will enrich himself
handsomely as before in similar transactions. BTW the adventurous investor
Pálmi runs Iceland Express behind the scenes and got well acquainted with
AEU when the latter provided B737 equipment on ACMI basis to the
Icelandic low cost airline from early 2003 till spring 2005, and is therefore
well informed on the professionalism and dedication of the AEU Crawley based
staff.