The planned sale of Nordica and Xfly has now been initiated by the Estonian government. A few days ago the corresponding decision was made to separate from both ACMI providers.

Nordica and Xfly are united under the umbrella of the Nordic Aviation Group, which was originally founded as the successor to the failed Estonian Air. The two companies each have separate AOCs and operating licenses. You do not offer flights on your own account, but are only in the air on behalf of other airlines or tour operators.

Nordica became widely known in Germany due to the chaos surrounding Marabu Airlines. The collaboration was extremely expensive for Nordica, as poor performance resulted in significant delays, many failures and, in particular, a questionable reputation for the Condor sister company. Nordica is no longer a partner, but high losses remain.

A number of Airbus A320 aircraft are currently in transit for Bamboo Airways as part of a wet lease order. The sister company Xfly flies smaller aircraft for Star Alliance member SAS, for example. Both Nordica and Xfly are to be sold in separate processes. The Estonian government wants to completely withdraw from the ACMI and charter business.

It was stated as follows: “The company does not offer flights to passengers from Tallinn in its own name, nor does it have any realistic prospects of continuing to offer air services from Tallinn; it does not increase connectivity with Estonia, and the Estonian state has no need to own the company. “Based on these considerations, the climate minister proposes to sell the company.”

Discussions with potential interested parties are currently ongoing. These should still be non-binding negotiations. Binding offers are expected to be requested in mid-March 2024. If no buyer can be found for Nordica, it is not unlikely that the carrier could be “disposed of” through bankruptcy.