The commercial contest to privatize the Moldovan airline Air Moldova was won by Civil Aviation Group SRL that manages the Romanian airline Blue Air. The Public Property Agency said the value of the transaction is 1.2 billion lei, IPN reports.

According to the Agency, 50 million lei was transferred to the state budget, while the rest of the sum will go to cover the debts of Air Moldova. The investor also pledged to solve the operational and development problems of the company.

The state-run airline was privatized in a move to save it and to avoid its bankruptcy.

According to the strategy for developing Air Moldova, Civil Aviation Group will launch seven new routes by the end of 2019 and four new routes in 2020. Long-distance flights, to the U.S., Canada and China, are to be provided in 2021. The frequency of flights to existing destinations will be increased. The number of operated aircraft will be gradually raised so that the fleet of Air Moldova will consist of 14 planes in 2021.

Civil Aviation Group plans to extend the aeronautic personnel with ten additional crews until 2021. The number of pilots and crew members will rise from 180 at present to 380 in 2021. The investor will allocate about €3.5 million for forming and training personnel until 2023.