Libra buys Helios Airways

LIBRA Holidays Group (LHG) yesterday announced the acquisition of the private Cypriot airline Helios Airways after month-long negotiations.

The decision to acquire the airline was taken by LHG as it expands its operation into the scheduled airline market, using Cyprus as its centre, the company said in an announcement. The deal, believed to be worth in the region of £5 million was signed on Friday in London.

Chief Executive of the Libra Holidays Group Andreas Drakou, said: “We have achieved our aim to expand the group’s activities in Cyprus and the acquisition of Helios Airways offers us a unique opportunity to expand our business into the island.”

Drakou said LHG would be expanding the airline’s existing services further into the UK and the rest of Europe. “This move gives us the opportunity to explore the scheduled flight market within our existing activities alongside other projects we are currently developing,” he said.

LHG recently sold its own airline Excel, but Drakou said the group’s relations with the airline would continue, “with Excel assisting us with fleet planning and marketing.”

Helios, which began operations in 1999, currently operates mainly scheduled flights from the UK and Ireland to Cyprus and charter services from Bristol, Newcastle and Humberside, with the recent addition of a service departing from Birmingham. Helios’ fleet includes two Boeing 737-800, ‘Zela’ and ‘Veni’ which have a capacity of 189 passengers. A third aircraft, ‘Olympia’, was introduced earlier this year. The Boeing 737-300 carries 136 passengers and offers a full frills service.

Coinciding with Cyprus’ full membership of the EU on May 1, 2004, the airline introduced a premium service on Heathrow scheduled flights. The Helios Plus service offers priority check-in, use of the Executive airport lounge, separate Helios Plus cabin with enhanced personal service on board, spacious seating, including unoccupied centre seat guaranteed, complimentary champagne, and a luggage allowance of 30kg per person as opposed to the usual 20kg.

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.