Hellas Jet to launch flights today

HELLAS JET will take to the skies today, only 24-hours later than planned, after Cyprus Airways (CY) was finally given the green light by the Greek government last night.

“We have just received the news officially that we obtained the commercial licence signed by the Greek Transport Minister,” Cyprus Airways spokesman Tassos Angelis told the Cyprus Mail. “We have now finalised all the formalities and we are ready to fly tomorrow (Tuesday).”

Hellas Jet received an air operator’s licence from Greece earlier in the month and had hoped to begin operating yesterday but a delay in obtaining the commercial licence forced the airline to postpone the launch for 24 hours.

CY officials were in Greece two weeks ago for talks on obtaining the necessary licences and had enlisted the help of the Cyprus government to push Greek officials to move faster.

Hellas Jet, which is 49 per cent owned by CY and 51 per cent by two Greek banks, Alpha and Omega expects to enter the Greek domestic market as well as provide links between Athens and four European destinations: London Heathrow, Brussels, Paris and Zurich. CY has leased three Airbus A320s and hired 200 staff for the new airline.

The partners in the airline established Hellas Jet to capture a share of the expected increased traffic during the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Greece.

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.