Vilnius  - The owners Lithuania's national flag-carrier, FlyLAL-Lithuanian Airlines, have agreed to sell the struggling company to industrial holding company SCH Swiss Capital Holdings in a deal that should be completed within the next two weeks, according to a company statement released Friday.

"Negotiations with the Swiss investment fund SCH Swiss Capital Holdings have agreed on the sale of FlyLAL-Lithuanian Airlines' shares. Today an agreement was signed under which SCH Swiss Capital Holdings will purchase 100 per cent of company shares," the statement said.

"We discussed various operational scenarios," said FlyLAL- Lithuanian Airlines director Vytautas Kaikaris.

"The investors carefully analyzed the situation of the aviation market and FlyLAL-Lithuanian Airlines' operating prospects," he said.

SCH Swiss Capital Holdings director Jan-Erik J Jansson said his company would act as a strategic investor and that FlyLAL-Lithuanian airlines will be further developed as a regional European airline and that a restructuring plan would be ready in the next few weeks.

By taking full control of the airline, the investment group will buy out the four existing shareholders, the company statement said.

FlyLAL follows its arch-rival, the Latvian carrier airBaltic, into a change of ownership as competition in the Baltic aviation sector becomes ever more fierce. In December, airBaltic announced that a management buyout of the minority stake previously held by Scandinavian airline SAS. (dpa)