Swedish low cost carrier FlyMe has confirmed it has purchased the majority shareholding in British airline Astraeus. Gothenburg-based FlyMe will complete its purchase within the next few weeks.
An Astraeus spokesperson said: "It is probable that new activity to Scandinavia will be added to complement IcelandAir and FlyMe's activities. FlyMe's peak season is during the winter, and so surplus winter capacity could be moved from Astraeus to FlyMe to create profitability and year round use of the aircraft.
"This will start in the coming winter, since two of Astraeus' remaining 737-300 aircraft will be operated in Sweden on behalf of FlyMe from November."
Incidentally, Gatwick-based Astraeus was founded by members of British World Airlines, including Iron Maiden's lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson. Dickinson is also a pilot for Astraeus and will continue on in this capacity after the purchase.
In other news, FlyMe is continuing its expansion plans by purchasing Lithuanian Airlines in full. Lithuanian, which was under government control until last year, claims it has about 40% market share in Lithuania.