The planned privatization of Azores Airlines has been suspended - at least for the time being - because only two bidders have submitted an offer. From the island government's point of view, these are not only far too low, but also almost identical in terms of amount. Now the two interested parties have been asked to improve their offers. According to local media reports, the Atlantic Consortium, which includes the airlines White and Euro Atlantic and the consulting company Old North Ventures, and the Newtour Azores Consortium, which includes the travel group New Tour and the Austrian MS Aviation, have bid. Both are said to have offered to take over at a price of 6,50 euros per share. The first-mentioned group wants to take over Azores Airlines for a total price of 4,875 million euros (equivalent to 750.000 shares) and New Tour is offering 760.000 million euros for 4,94 shares. The regional government was certainly hoping for much greater interest and believes that the offers are far too low. It is also noticeable that both bidders have written the same purchase price in their expressions of interest and the offers differ by only 10.000 shares. The current parent company, Sata Holding, informed the public that the two offers are identical in terms of price and that, taking into account the conditions of the tender, the public sale process is temporarily suspended. Both consortia were asked to significantly improve their offers. A comparatively very short period of time was granted for this. If these are not increased, the government can use other criteria to determine the award. However, there is also the possibility that