The financial crisis at major US airlines could force them out of the bidding for Mexico's top carriers, and European or Asian airlines could swoop in with their own offers, the executive leading the sale said. Andres Conesa, the chairman of Mexico's state-owned holding company Cintra, told Reuters that foreign airlines might join the bidding for its Aeromexico and Mexicana de Aviacion carriers this year to try to retain lucrative marketing alliances. Earlier efforts to sell Aeromexico and Mexicana were killed off by the industry crisis that followed the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
Before then, major US carriers like Delta Air Lines Inc and UAL Corp were seen as likely bidders in Mexico's airline privatisation.
But the US airline industry has since lost more than $30 billion and the big carriers all face a serious cash crunch.
"The main US airlines are going through a difficult time," Conesa said in an interview on Monday night. "Perhaps they are not an important player (in Mexico's sell-off), but they are not the only ones. There are others in the world."
"The commercial alliances are very important. If the Americans are not players right now, perhaps the Europeans and Asians are, to protect these commercial alliances."
Mexican law limits foreign investment in its airlines to a 25 percent stake, a possible barrier to would-be bidders.
No airline has yet declared interest, although there has been speculation that Spain's Iberia might bid for Mexicana.
Both Aeromexico and Mexicana took new partners in global alliances last year.
Mexicana ended its close relationship with UAL's United Airlines and left the Star Alliance to open codeshare and marketing agreements with Oneworld members American Airlines, an AMR Corp unit. and Iberia. American has already said it hopes to continue the new partnership as Mexicana is sold off.
Aeromexico is a member of the SkyTeam alliance led by Delta and Air France, and it also started code-sharing with Continental Airlines Inc on US-Mexico routes last year.
Conesa, a young technocrat recently moved from his post as Mexico's top public debt official at the finance ministry to handle the airlines sale, said it would go through as planned by early 2006 even if no foreigners put in bids.
Aeromexico and Mexicana were brought under government control when they went bankrupt in the mid-1990s. Cintra, which is majority-owned by the government, last month decided to sell them separately after an initial proposal to merge them was widely criticised for creating an effective monopoly.
Under the plan, Aeromexico would be sold with regional airline Aeroliteral and Mexicana is packaged with Aerocaribe, a small unit now being turned into a no-frills, low-cost carrier.
After years of losses, Cintra turned a profit in 2004, helped by cost-cutting and Mexico's economic recovery.
Conesa said this year's results will be even stronger, and Mexico's airline industry could grow rapidly after years of stagnation. He downplayed concerns that the market would not be big enough for both Mexicana and Aeromexico to survive without heavy cuts.
"There are opportunities not only for them to co-exist, but also to grow," he said.
The airlines under Cintra's control account for about 80 percent of Mexico's airline industry. Its shares on Mexico's stock market traded 1.67 percent lower at 8.25 pesos on Tuesday but are up almost three-fold since late October, boosted by progress on the sell-off plans.
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