By Jean Christou
CYPRUS Airways is concerned that it hasn’t yet received a licence from the Greek government for an airline it plans to launch in Greece within the next three weeks.
The worry centres on a possible conflict of interests between CY and the Greek government, the Cyprus Mail has learned. The national carrier’s new airline HellasJet, which is due to launch in Greece on June 23, could be seen by the Greek government as serious competition for its ailing carrier Olympic Airways.
When CY decided to form HellasJet in Greece, Olympic was due to be sold off, but during the air travel crisis following September 11, 2001, the Olympic sell-off collapsed and the Greek government has been unable to offload the airline.
CY itself had been a early bidder for Olympic but pulled out just before September 11 in favour of setting up HellasJet as a competitor to Olympic’s then prospective new owners.
Although CY officials are currently in Athens, the delay in issuing a licence for HellasJet was not on the agenda with busy Greek officials, although it is believed that was the main reason for the visit.
CY has enlisted the help of the Cyprus government to push Greek officials to move faster with the licensing process, although sources told the Cyprus Mail that CY had only recently submitted its application for the licence.
“Cyprus Airways is a bit worried because HellasJet is going to be competition for Olympic and it seems the Greek government is not very keen to give a permit to an airline that is going to be their main competitor,” sources told the Cyprus Mail.
“The airline is still optimistic that it will obtain the licence but it’s a question of time. They have the people and aircraft ready but they don’t have the permit.”
Hellas Jet, which will be 49 per cent owned by CY and 51 per cent by two Greek banks, Alpha and Omega, is due to enter the Greek domestic market as well as provide links between Athens and five European destinations – London Heathrow, Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, and either Frankfurt or Munich. CY has already leased three Airbus A320s and hired 200 staff for the new airline.
Passengers from Cyprus would be able to use the new airline, although the national carrier already serves the routes concerned, except Munich. The partners in the airline established HellasJet with an eye on increased traffic during the 2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games.
If the airline’s launch is delayed it will deal the national carrier another heavy financial blow following the recent scandal involving the renewal of CY’s own fleet, which has left the company $350 million in debt for the next 10 years.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
