EGYPT is preparing to offer 20 per cent of state-owned airline Egypt Air to the public, in the latest big-ticket privatisation in the government’s drive to sell off state assets.
“The shares will be offered as soon as the study is complete,” Civil Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq said, in comments reported by the official Middle East News Agency.
The remaining 80 per cent of Egypt Air Holding Company will stay in government hands to ensure loans for new planes would still get state backing, he said. The minister did not give a timeframe for the sale or give any indication of a value for the carrier.