This February, the government made the final decision that the Estonian state would be withdrawing from the aviation business. As a result, the state wants to sell both Nordic Aviation Group and OÜ Transpordi Varahaldus, the company that owns seven Bombardier-type passenger aircraft.

This spring, negotiations with two companies that had submitted offers to buy Nordica fell through.

"Throughout summer, the company has been reviewing its contracts as well as its expenses," said Sander Salmu, deputy secretary general of the Ministry of Climate. "On the state's side, we have in the meantime continued negotiations and contact with potential buyers."

Aviation expert Sven Kukemelk likewise believes that there is interest in buying the airline.

"Nordica itself has value and, as far as we know, interested parties," Kukemelk said. "Interested parties fall into two categories: those who are interested in Nordica itself as an entity, which currently has leasing agreements and aircraft subcontracting agreements with SAS and other carriers, and those involved in aircraft assets who are definitely interested in Nordica's aircraft, as those planes have value."

Transpordi Varahaldus announced in its second quarter financial report that the company is preparing for privatization. Without any fanfare, the company's Bombardier aircraft have already been listed for sale on aviation portals.

"There were a couple of months of preparations to assemble the necessary documentation for listing them, and now interested parties have had the opportunity for a couple of weeks already to make initial offers," Salmu noted.

"There are buyers for CRJ-type planes in general; these [listings] move, but this definitely isn't as liquid an asset as an Airbus 320 or Boeing 737," Kukemelk explained. "In other words, these [planes] are only on niche routes, regional and smaller routes. And these are aircraft that are no longer in production today."

Salmu confirmed that European companies have shown interest in the Estonian flag carrier airline.

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