Government to decide Monday on whether to accept sole bid for Czech Airlines

The Czech government is set to decide on Monday whether to accept the only bid it has received for the national carrier Czech Airlines. Finance Minister Eduard Janota has not said whether he will recommend that the cabinet agree to the offer from the Czech-Icelandic consortium of Unimex and Travel Service. It is the sole bidder, after Air France-KLM dropped out. However, there has been speculation that the bid will be rejected and the troubled company will remain in state hands. The government last week installed the head of Prague Airport, Miroslav Dvořák, as Czech Airlines’ CEO. He has secured an agreement with unions to cut salaries at the airline, which has seen record losses this year.