Taiwan may not privatise China Airlines

Airline Industry Information, Nov 1, 2004

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Taiwan may not privatise its national carrier China Airlines, according to the country's Transportation Minister Lin Lin-san who said that the state will remain the airline's majority shareholder.

Lin said he wanted the airline to remain a state carrier but refused to say if this meant that the long-held plan to privatise China Airlines was dead. The Taiwanese government was thought to be ready to sell a 36% stake in the airline which would be worth around TWD18.5bn.

The report comes as a surprise at a time when Taiwan is aggressively selling off state assets to trim its budget deficit and improve management at state-owned companies and had been under pressure to sell the airline after a series of fatal crashes, reports Reuters.

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