Blue Panorama to be acquired by Uvet Group

Italian airline Blue Panorama commissioner Giuseppe Leogrande approved a binding offer for the acquisition of the airline by the Uvet Group, a leading Italian travel management services company. The bid must be examined and approved by the Italian government, with the sale aiming to be complete in autumn 2017.

Up until Uvet’s offer was accepted, they were competing against Italian Airways for the Blue Panorama bid, but when the conditions for the sale were altered, Italian Airways failed to submit an updated bid. Luca Patané, Uvet’s President, says his plan is to vertically integrated the airline into his tourism business, whose annual revenue is US$2.8 billion.

Blue Panorama operates a fleet of seven B737s and three B767s, only two of which are owned by the airline. Patané plans to add B787s to the fleet, and increase its yearly passenger numbers from its 1.2 million in 2016 up to 1.6 million within a year. In order to attract more customers, analysts say the airline will need to address current competition on the destinations in its route network.