Pilots react to sale of CY’s last Heathrow slot

By George Psyllides
Cyprus Airways (CY) pilots were up in arms on Tuesday over the company’s intention to sell its last timeslot at London’s Heathrow airport, saying it would be catastrophic.
In a resolution that followed a general meeting of their union PASYPI, pilots said they no longer trusted the board, considering its members “incompetent and dangerous”.
The union urged the government to immediately hire suitable people from abroad to manage the ailing airline.
PASYPI also condemned the board’s intention to sell the company’s last timeslot at Heathrow airport.
“Selling the timeslot would be catastrophic for the company’s future,” the union said, holding the ministers and board responsible for the lost revenue and reduction in tourist arrivals.
The meeting authorised PASYPI’s board to prevent such an event, not ruling out strike measures.
In March, CY sold its night slot at Heathrow airport for €6.3 million to Middle East Airlines.
Tony Antoniou, the airline’s chairman, said the sale was included in the restructuring plan the company submitted to the EU for approval.
Antoniou said the intention was known.
“Both timeslots must be sold for the company plan to be viable,” Antoniou said.
He said a lot has been done so far and voiced hope that come October, the board would successfully argue its position before the EU.
“I don’t know why the issue was raised today when it has been on the table for the past year,” he said.
He also responded to a report in Haravghi, the mouthpiece of main opposition AKEL, which claimed that CY staff were being sacked over the phone at 10pm.
“It is not the first time the particular publication says things that are 100 per cent unfounded,” he said.
Antoniou said the company had to make staff redundant, as part of the restructuring plan, to cut numbers down to 490.
The ailing carrier is seeking ways to survive, which include implementation of a restructuring plan, the latest in a series.
It is also faced with more turbulence since the European Commission decided to look into whether capital injections from the government constitute state aid, forbidden by EU competition rules.
The EC’s ruling, expected near the end of 2014, will decide whether CY will need to return any capital received from the government.

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