CYPRUS Airways (CY) may bid for between 10 and 30 per cent of Greek national carrier Olympic Airways, the airline’s chairman said in an interview published yesterday.
Speaking to weekly the Selides magazine, Haris Loizides said participation in the Greek airline would be a unique opportunity for CY, which would like to create a new charter airline with flights from Europe to Greece.
“They (Greece) asked us to present a worthwhile proposal but not in terms of money,” Loizides was quoted as saying. “What the Greek government wants is a proposal that will make the airline viable.”
The Greek government is seeking to sell up to 65 per cent of its debt-ridden airline. British Airways in June abandoned plans to purchase a stake in Olympic.
In December, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was allowing Olympic to fly to New York and Boston, but only on condition the airline’s capacity and schedules were frequently checked. Such limitations could make Olympic less attractive to potential buyers.
CY has not yet taken a final decision on the matter, but Loizides said the airline has a strategic plan in the pipeline designed to cut costs, increase productivity and expand into new markets.
“We will increase the frequency of our flights to traditional destinations such as Greece, the UK and parts of the Middle East,” he said.
“We are currently holding talks with strategic investors from abroad aimed at creating joint co-operation in these fields,” he said.
Referring to Cyprus Airways’ plans to renew or replace its fleet, Loizides confirmed that both Boeing and Airbus were still wooing the company, but that no decision had yet been taken by the airline.
The airline currently has 12 Airbuses, eight A320s and four A310s. Three of the A320s are leased to its charter arm Eurocypria. The average age of the fleet is 10.7 years.
CY recently received $3.7 million (£2.3 million) from the United Nations in the form of compensation for losses incurred during the 1991 Gulf War, which the airline had estimated at $20 million.
The sum will be offset as exceptional income against the company’s financial results for 2000, which are expected to fall victim to last year’s oil price increases. The company has not issued any forecast for 2000.
In 1999, the airline recorded pre-tax profits of £3.6 million, compared to £5.3 million in 1998. Group profits stood at £8.8 million in 1999 compared to £10 million in 1998.
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.
