Successor in works if Olympic Air shuts down
ATHENS (Reuters) – Olympic Airways will be succeeded by a new company that will take over its flights if Greece’s troubled carrier is forced to shut down by its debts, Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis told Reuters on Thursday.
The European Union has ordered Greece to recover hundreds of millions of euros in illegal state aid handed to Olympic over the years, a move that may mean the airline’s end.
Alogoskoufis said in an interview Greece was determined to keep flights going, whether by Olympic or a successor.
“There is a process of creating a new company, which could take over Olympic’s flights in case Olympic is forced to shut down. There is clear investment interest in this specific solution,” he said.
Competitors in the crowded European aviation sector are closely watching Olympic, founded by the late shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. After decades of mismanagement, repeated efforts to privatise it have failed.
Greek officials said last month Olympic would keep flying until at least October while they prepared their defence at the European Court of Justice.
They said a group of unidentified Greek ship owners, foreign equities funds and Arab investors were interested in the venture to succeed Olympic, whose debts could be over 700 million euros (2.5 million) while its assets are estimated at 150 million euros.
Alogoskoufis did not give more details but said he was confident the scheme, which so far exists only on paper, would materialise.
“In any case, there will be a successor for Olympic,” he said. “Greece needs a second company, also for reasons of internal competition.”
At the moment, only privately held Aegean Airlines serves regular internal flights in Greece, but its network is not as extensive as that of Olympic, which is a lifeline for many small Greek islands.