Despite the effects of the international financial crisis, the Czech government would persevere with its plans to privatise national airline CSA and Prague International Airport, Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek told newspaper Hospodarske Noviny in October. The paper said the authorities were still aiming to raise CZK100bn (US$5.4bn) from the sale of the airport, with potential buyers including private equity group Penta Investments, which already owns land adjacent to the airport that could be used for expansion. Other groups expressing interest have included Aeroports de Paris, GMR Group and Reliance Airport Developers from India. Kalousek said that a first shortlist of potential buyers of the national airline would identify those considered as ‘safe’ to takeover the strategic company. The newspaper suggested the sale of the government’s 91.5% stake in the airline could raise CZK5bn (US$264.8mn), and noted that interested parties included Russia’s Aeroflot and the Slovak-Czech private equity group J&T.

BMI believes the Czech aviation sector will continue to post reasonable growth. In our latest Czech Republic Freight Transport report, BMI concludes that air cargo traffic will grow by 6.4% per annum on average over the next five years. Our optimistic outlook is based on a number of factors. Despite tough external conditions the Czech Republic is set for reasonable economic growth (4.3% per annum on average to 2013, according to our forecasts). European Union (EU) membership has placed the country near the centre of gravity of Eastern European logistics.

In fact, BMI is bullish on freight across most modes in the Czech Republic. We expect freight carried by road to be one of the most dynamic sectors over the next few years, with annual growth averaging 5.3% in 2009-2013. This incorporates the negative effect of high petrol prices and a small downwards ‘blip’ in the road haulage growth rate in 2007-2008, which occurred as a result of the introduction of the electronic tolling system. Oil shipped by pipeline should grow at around 4.9% a year, ahead of GDP. However, we expect rail freight to lag, as investment in the rail system takes time to have an effect, meaning that the average growth for 2009-2013 will come out at a more modest 3.2% per annum. Freight carried by inland waterways will grow slowly, at 2.1% per annum. Consequently, we now forecast total freight carried across all modes, measured in million tonne kilometres (mntkm), to rise by an annual average of 4.8% per annum in 2009-2013. Under our freight transport rating, the Czech Republic earns a composite score of 60.3 out of a theoretical maximum of 100. This places it at the upper end of its European peer group. The total value of transport and communications GDP will rise to US$35.6bn in nominal terms by 2013, representing 11.6% of the Czech Republic’s GDP. The transport and communications sector employed 375,000 people, or 7.8% of the labour force, in 2007. We see that figure holding broadly steady in the five years to 2013.