Active Airlines in Greece (2010):


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Commercial Airlines

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http://el.aegeanair.com/AegeanCMS/Uploads/Star%20Logos/logoBLUE%20NEW-1.jpg (http://el.aegeanair.com/)


International awards :

Bronze Award: Airline of the Year - 2000/2001
Gold Award: Airline of the Year - 2004/2005
Silver Award: Airline of the Year - 2006/2007
ERA's Palme d'Or award - 2007
Gold Award: Airline of the year - 2008/2009




History of the company :

Aegean Airlines was founded as Aegean Aviation in 1987. It was originally a VIP/business air operation specializing in executive and air ambulance services.

On 17 February 1992, it became the first airline to be issued with a Greek independent air operator's license. After it was bought by Vasilakis Group in 1994, Aegean Aviation commenced VIP flights from Athens all over the world with wholly owned Lear jet aircraft.

The Aegean Airlines title was adopted with the start of scheduled passenger services at the end of May 1999. Its first commercial flights were from Athens to Heraklion, Crete and Thessaloniki, Macedonia, with 2 brand new wholly owned BAe 146/RJ100.

During 2000 Aegean bought Air-Greece. After an agreement in March 2001 to merge Aegean and Cronus Airlines, it operated for a while as Aegean Cronus Airlines until full integration. Since 2005, the airline is in partnership with Lufthansa, offering participation to the Miles & More program. And as of June 30 Aegean Airlines has become a full member of the Star Alliance (http://www.staralliance.com/en/).


The Aegean Airlines current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:


18+5(Ordered) Airbus A320-232
4 Airbus A321-232

6 BAE Avro RJ100



Leased Aircrafts:


2 ATR-72-500 (Operated by Swiftair)
Total 30 + 5



Average Age of Aegean Airlines fleet:3.7 Years


Passengers statistics

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4820306463_f02764c1ca_b.jpg

Source-Airliners.gr (http://www.airliners.gr)


pictures of Aegean Airlines airplanes:


http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/8/2/1/1682128.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Aegean-Airlines/Airbus-A321-232/1682128/L/&sid=3278348b591c414990572ba511c7f76b)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/5/0/5/1744505.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Star-Alliance-%28Aegean/Airbus-A320-232/1744505/L/&sid=8d482eeb40e31277a967ae3314b2b10d)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/2/6/9/1727962.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Aegean-Airlines/Airbus-A320-232/1727962/L/&sid=3278348b591c414990572ba511c7f76b)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/9/5/6/1682659.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Aegean-Airlines/Airbus-A320-232/1682659/L/&sid=3278348b591c414990572ba511c7f76b)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/3/0/1/1718103.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Aegean-Airlines/BAE-Systems-Avro/1718103/L/&sid=3278348b591c414990572ba511c7f76b)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/7/8/0/1665087.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Aegean-Airlines/Airbus-A320-232/1665087/L/&sid=3278348b591c414990572ba511c7f76b)




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http://www.argoairways.com/ind/css/images/topbg.jpg (http://www.argoairways.com/)

History of the company :

ArGo Airways is a regional airline located in Volos, which provides
a seaplane service as an alternative mode of transportation in the region.
ArGo Airways offers short haul flights interconnecting Volos, Thessaloniki,
Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonissos.


current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:


1 DHC-3T Single Otter



Total 1


pictures of Argo Airways Seaplanes:

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/middle/5/6/6/1686665.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/ARGo-Airways/De-Havilland-Canada/1686665/M/&sid=ab62b8a719f8e758a6ccee349ce33bbb)



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http://worldtravelspot.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/astra_airlines_logo.jpg (www.astra-airlines.gr)


History of the company :

Astra Airlines was founded in 2008 and is based in Thessaloniki airport "Macedonia". Main shareholders of the airline is Ioannis Zlatanis, founder of "Interviator Ltd" and Anastasios Zirinis, whom was in the past CEO of Greek flag carrier Olympic Airlines.

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:

2 BAe 146-300


Leased Aircrafts:

2 Airbus A320-200 (operated by Air Via)



Total 4


Average Age of Astra Airlines fleet: 18.6 years

pictures of Astra Airlines airplanes:

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/7/9/6/1717697.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Astra-Airlines/British-Aerospace-BAe-146-300/1717697/L/&sid=9cf842d12588161b30449772eaf0313e)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/5/6/9/1618965.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Astra-Airlines/British-Aerospace-BAe-146-300/1618965/L/&sid=9cf842d12588161b30449772eaf0313e)




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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/el/9/95/Athens_Airways_logo.gif (http://www.athensairways.com/)


History of the company :

Athens Airways was launched on 2008. Athens Airways is a regional airline based in Athens International airport "Eleftherios Venizelos".CEO and owner of the airline is Mr Sakis Andrianopoulos.

Athens Airways leased on October 2008 4 EMBRAER ERJ-145 from "Air stream International Group", a company based in the UK. After the aircrafts arrived in Athens the airline received its Air Operator Certificate – AOC on 16/01/2009 from the Greek Civil Aviation authority (ΥΠΑ).

The first flight of the company was from Athens to Alexandroupolis.The initial investment accounts for 12 million Euro, while in the next 3 years was scheduled to reach 25 million.Main target of the airline is to become the most important regional airline in Greece by connecting all major cities and islands.


current fleet:

Leased Aircrafts:

2 Embraer ERJ-145
1 Dash 8-300
2 ATR 42-300 (Operated by Hemus Air)



5 Total


Average Age of Athens Airways fleet: 10.6 years

Passengers statistics

pictures of Athens Airways airplanes:


http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/4/3/3/1610334.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Athens-Airways/Embraer-EMB-145EU-%28ERJ-145EU%29/1610334/L/&sid=ce898c1589471252ac28d7407befee60)


http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/7/4/7/1722747.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Athens-Airways/Embraer-EMB-145EU-%28ERJ-145EU%29/1722747/&sid=ce898c1589471252ac28d7407befee60)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/2/3/4/1660432.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Athens-Airways-%28Medavia%29/De-Havilland-Canada/1660432/&sid=ce898c1589471252ac28d7407befee60)



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http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4089/4840659862_b9c404b54f_m.jpg (http://www.bluebirdair.gr/)


History of the company :

Blue Bird Airways is a private airline mainly involved in schedule & charter flights launched at Greece from 2008 with headquarters based in Heraklion International Airport and branch office in Chania International Airport.

Blue Bird Airways holds a worldwide EU-OPS-1 (AOC).

Blue Bird Airways was awarded international lines form Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Corfu and Rhodes to Moscow after participation in competition by Civil Aviation Authority.To run the lines the company leased two McDonnell Douglas MD-83 from meelad air (SX-BPP, SX-BLL).

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:


1 King Air C90A
1 Cessna Citation CJ2
1 PA31


Leased Aircrafts:


2 McDonnell Douglas MD-83 (meelad air



Total 5


Average Age of fleet: leased aircraft have an average age of 18 Years

pictures of BlueBird airways airplanes:

The MD83 that is currently used by Bluebird, in flight with previous owner SkyExpress, also a Cretan airline.

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/middle/4/2/3/1588324.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Sky-Express/McDonnell-Douglas-MD-83/1588324/&sid=517507c08361a2ac155cb566c99dee4d)



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http://www.hellas-jet.com/en%2Dgb/imgs/logo.jpg (http://www.hellas-jet.com)


History of the company :

The airline was started in 2002 as a Cyprus Airways subsidiary and the first flight was operated on 24 June 2003 from Athens. At the end of the first year of operation, they had completed 3,855 flights and carried over 250,000 passengers. Due to heavy losses, Hellas Jet suspended all scheduled flights from 10 May 2005. In January 2006, the airline announced it would refocus on charter operations. In August 2006, Cyprus Airways sold its shares to Air Miles, the trading name of Trans World Aviation. It is wholly owned by Air Miles and has 199 employees (at March 2007).


current fleet:

Leased Aircrafts:


4 Fokker 50

The airline was operating 2 Airbus A320 and seems to be searching for a possible lease of another Airbus A320.




Total 4


Average Age of fleet: 19,4 Years

pictures of Hellas Jet aircrafts:

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/8/6/5/1613568.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Hellas-Jet/Airbus-A320-211/1613568/&sid=da76468c652f24f8b9df02cb47abf28e)


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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hellenic_Imperial_Airways_logo.svg (http://www.hellenicairways.com/)


History of the company :

The airline was incorporated in May 2006 by a team of industry veterans, and currently operates charter flights and aircraft leasing on an ACMI basis.

The airline commenced scheduled operations on 30 May 2009 with the route Birmingham-Athens-Jeddah. The route has since been suspended until further notice, though the airline is looking for more suited aircraft for the route.

Hellenic Imperial Airways launched it's new website in April of 2010 as a part of their new promotional campaign for the company's new activities. The new website allows customers to book services online, and has live news feeds regarding flights and services.

In early May 2010 Hellenic Imperial announced it is to begin scheduled services to Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport beginning on the 8th of June 2010. These flights will fill the gap left by Olympic Airlines when they ceased services to the airport last September.Once again the route was suspended after the end of world cup, and since then the company only flew as charter company.

Current targets of the company according to directors is to start transatlantic flights to US, and to replace their classics Jumbo with newer cost efficient aircrafts, such as Boeing 777.

International awards :


IATA-Best European Charter Airline 2010

current fleet:


Owned Aircrafts:


4 Boeing 747-200



4 Total


Average Age of Hellenic Imperial fleet: 23.4 Years

pictures of Hellenic Imperial Airways airplanes:


http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/2/6/9/1445962.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Hellenic-Imperial-Airways/Boeing-747-281B/1445962/&sid=2d3c35d52e305dbd62bdc768b92ba50c)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/6/1/0/1695016.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Hellenic-Imperial-Airways/Boeing-747-230BM/1695016/&sid=2d3c35d52e305dbd62bdc768b92ba50c)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/2/7/3/1568372.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Hellenic-Imperial-Airways/Boeing-747-230BM/1568372/&sid=2d3c35d52e305dbd62bdc768b92ba50c)





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http://www.airliners.gr/el/images/news/oair_logo.jpg (http://www.olympicair.com/)


History of the company :

Formed from the privatisation of the former national carrier Olympic Airlines, and owned by Marfin Investment Group, Olympic Air commenced limited operations on 29 September 2009, after Olympic Airlines ceased all operations, with the official full-scale opening of the company taking place two days later, on 1 October 2009. The airline has its main hub out of Athens International Airport.

The company's privatization cost was in total 177,2 million Euro, while the total investment for the new company reached 1,1 Bln Euro.The new company bought all the registered trademarks of previous state company but not the fleet.Thus the company had to make a new fleet by ordering new aircraft and leasing many.During Le Bourget 2008 Bombardier announced an order for 8+8 Q400 N by Olympic Air for 224 million Dollar.

The official opening of the new Olympic took place on 1st October of 2009 with the flight Athens - Thessaloniki with an Airbus A320 (SX-OAQ). From Thessaloniki the same day president of MIG group announced the reviving of Macedonian Airlines as a charter subsidiary of the Airline.

Unfortunately further plans for the development of the airline were changed by the economical crisis, and the company announced on February 2010 that they have agreed to merge with rival Aegean Airlines, under the brand name of Olympic. The newly merged airline will carry the Olympic name and logo, after a transition period in which both airline brands will be used in parallel.The Aegean brand will cease to exist after the transition period. Olympic Ground Handling and Olympic Engineering will become 100 percent subsidiaries of the new company.



current fleet:


Owned Aircrafts:


7 Airbus A319-100
9 Airbus A320-200
1 ATR 42-300 (The only x-Olympic Airlines)
10 +2 (plus 8 optinal) Bombardier Dash 8 Q400
5 Bombardier Dash 8-100



Total 32+2 (+8 option)


Average Age of Olympic Air fleet: 4.8 Years(Including leased Aircraft from FlyBe)

Passengers statistics

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/4820926674_a85094f17f_b.jpg

Source-Airliners.gr (http://www.airliners.gr)

pictures of Olympic Air airplanes:

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/middle/4/2/4/1703424.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Olympic/Airbus-A319-132/1703424/&sid=0362f97b872fdb64b3d7db1a6e2eca75)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/4/4/1/1696144.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Olympic/Airbus-A320-232/1696144/&sid=0362f97b872fdb64b3d7db1a6e2eca75)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/3/6/6/1736663.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Olympic/Airbus-A319-131/1736663/&sid=0362f97b872fdb64b3d7db1a6e2eca75)

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Olympic/Airbus-A320-232/1744138/&sid=0362f97b872fdb64b3d7db1a6e2eca75

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4820594659_446da01d95_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/50330860@N04/4820594659/?eOrig=4820591513)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/4/5/5/1630554.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Olympic/De-Havilland-Canada/1630554/&sid=0362f97b872fdb64b3d7db1a6e2eca75)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/8/4/4/1743448.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Olympic/De-Havilland-Canada/1743448/&sid=0362f97b872fdb64b3d7db1a6e2eca75)




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http://www.skyexpress.gr/images/leftlogo.gif (http://www.skyexpress.gr/)


History of the company :

The company was established by aviation professionals with long experience in Airline Operations in 2005.

Sky Express is a regional Airline based in Heraklion Crete, operating under a Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority issued Air Operator Certificate in accordance with the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Joint Aviation Authorities Regulations.
The main Sky Express destinations from Heraklion include Rhodes, Kos, Mytilini, Samos, Kalamata, Mykonos, Santorini and Ikaria and from autumn 2008, Patrai, Thessaloniki, Alexandroupoli and Tirana were added to the flight schedule enabling us to perform 5800 flights per year and carry 120.000 passengers.

Other services include: Charter Flights, Air-Taxi, Emergency Medical Service, Excursions, Sight-Seeing and Cargo Flights.

current fleet:


Owned Aircrafts:


1 BAe Jetstream 3102
1 BAe Jetstream 3201
2 BAe Jetstream 41



4 Total



Average Age of SkyExpress fleet: ? Years

Passengers statistics

pictures of airplanes:

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/middle/6/4/7/1562746.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Sky-Express/British-Aerospace-Jetstream/1562746/M/&sid=41a569f300b7e91b8b25b4a614adf144)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/middle/4/5/7/1734754.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Sky-Express/British-Aerospace-Jetstream/1734754/M/&sid=41a569f300b7e91b8b25b4a614adf144)




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http://www.skywings.gr/themes/skywings/images/logo.png (http://www.skywings.gr/)


History of the company :

Founded in 2004 with one McDonnell Douglas MD-83 passenger aircraft Sky Wings Airlines now owns five passenger aircraft and operates all around the world.
The company holds Air Operator Certificate issued By Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA) to operate in purposes of Commercial Air Transport in worldwide region.
The company is a charter airline but is mainly leasing their aircrafts to other airlines for charter or scheduled flights in many countries around the world, with a method called "wet leasing", including aircraft leasing with crew.

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:


3 McDonnell Douglas MD-83
1 McDonnell Douglas MD-82
1 Boeing 757-200



5 Total


Average Age of Sky Wings fleet: 19.3 Years

pictures of Sky Wings airplanes:

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/middle/8/5/6/1733658.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Sky-Wings-Airlines/McDonnell-Douglas-MD-83/1733658/&sid=52333ca1f38b284adde998ce19b8f4dd)


http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/9/1/2/1589219.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Sky-Wings-Airlines/Boeing-757-29J/1589219/&sid=0b9a0102a26a96aff0146c97b053eab7)




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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1a/Viking_hellas.png/200px-Viking_hellas.png (http://www.flyviking.gr/)


History of the company :

Viking Hellas Operational home base is in Greece with headquarters in Athens. The airline is subsidiary of the Viking Group, which is based in Sweden.

The airline holds scheduled services from Athens to Manchester as well as to Iraq (Erbil, Sulaimaniyah and Baghdad). Viking Hellas will also be operating charter flights on behalf of some of Europes leading tour operators from Greece to destinations throughout Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Middle East.


current fleet:


Owned Aircrafts:


2 A320-231 (1 operated for XL Airways France)
1 Bombardier Challenger 600 (VIP)
1 McDonnell Douglas MD-83


Leased Aircrafts:


1 Boeing 737-86Q (operated by Sunwing Airlines)



Total 5


Average Age of fleet: ? Years

pictures of Viking Hellas airplanes:


http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/4/7/4/1728474.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Viking-Hellas-Airlines/McDonnell-Douglas-MD-83/1728474/&sid=a88f63e1177d80a2dca8e57ea6d16ce1)


http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/2/5/8/1739852.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Viking-Hellas-Airlines/Airbus-A320-231/1739852/&sid=a88f63e1177d80a2dca8e57ea6d16ce1)





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Freighter Airlines


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http://www.airliners.gr/community/images/avatars/gallery/logos/Aeroland.jpg (http://www.aeroland.gr/)

History of the company :

Aeroland was introduced on February 2005 and its main purpose is cargo transports through Greece with low cost. The company is part of Karagianis group of companies, whom in 2006 attempted to merge the small airline with Veravia but negotiations failed.

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:


1 Bombardier Dash 8 Q100
4 Cessna 208 Caravan



Total 5


Average Age of Aeroland fleet: 17.2 years


pictures of Aeroland airplanes:


http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/4/3/6/1527634.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Aeroland/De-Havilland-Canada/1527634/L/&sid=a9c635b747d13e8a63642f9214ec81d9)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/9/1/2/1085219.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Aeroland/Cessna-208B-Super/1085219/L/&sid=a9c635b747d13e8a63642f9214ec81d9)



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http://www.airgoairlines.gr/Images/Logo.jpg (http://www.airgoairlines.gr/)

History of the company :
The company received its AOC on 2008 and started freighter flights in Greece and neighboring countries.The company operates one "Bae ATP".

Managed by a team of experienced Greek airline professionals, lead by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Petros Stefanou, Airgo Airlines is a new start-up carrier that aims to take advantage of the growing need for a dedicated and professional regional all cargo carrier to operate between Greece, the new accession countries of the European Union in the region such as Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania, and the Balkan states such as the republics of the former Yugoslavia, Albania and also into Turkey.

current fleet:

Leased Aircrafts:


1 BRITISH AEROSPACE ATP



Total 1


Average Age of AirGo fleet: 22 years

pictures of AirGo airplanes:

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/middle/9/2/8/1726829.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/AirGo-Airlines/British-Aerospace-ATP%28F%29/1726829/&sid=b9771d741d5194f5803503708b8b29e5)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/middle/6/0/8/1473806.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/AirGo-Airlines/British-Aerospace-ATP%28F%29/1473806/&sid=ff130149423b2e7c123cd4f6c1076054)


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http://www.veravia.gr/Images/veravialogo.gif ("]http://www.swiftair.com/img/logo.gif (Swiftair Hellas).


History of the company :

Swiftair Hellas is a cargo airline based in Athens, Greece. Its main base is Athens International Airport and it mainly serves the Greek domestic market.

It was established under the name Mediterranean Air Freight in June 2003. It is wholly owned by Swiftair.

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:


3 Swearingen Metro III
1 Embraer 120 F



Total 4


pictures of Swiftair Hellas airplanes:

http://i.planepictures.net/92/46/1268422667.jpg



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History of the company :

Vernicos Aviation S.A., trading under the name of VERAVIA is a member of the Vernicos Yachts Shipping & Holdings S.A. It was first established in 1990 under the name of KAL Aviation S.A. and was active in the area of air transport. In June 2000 it was acquired by Vernicos Yachts Shipping & Holdings S.A.

Veravia's business objective is the air transportation of cargo in Greece, Cyprus, the Balkans and the rest of the countries in Europe and the Mediterranean basin.

The company's headquarters are at the Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos" at Spata, 27 km outside of Athens.

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:


4 Fairchild SA227 Metro III SA227-AC/BC



Total 4


Average Age of Veravia fleet: ? Years

pictures of airplanes:

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/1/2/8/1209821.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Ver-Avia/Fairchild-Swearingen-SA-227AC/1209821/&sid=33e91cf012a55776aea40b70f81e2ee2)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/9/3/0/1160039.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Ver-Avia/Fairchild-SA-227BC-Metro/1160039/&sid=33e91cf012a55776aea40b70f81e2ee2)


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Executive Airlines (Including Mixed services Airlines)





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http://www.amjetexecutive.com/images/logo.jpg (http://www.amjetexecutive.com/)


History of the company :

Amjet Executive is a European Aircraft Operator specialized in business jets with its headquarter in Athens. Supervised by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:


1 MD-83 Executive Airliner
1 Gulfstream G200
1 Falcon 2000LX



Total 3


Average Age of fleet: ? Years

pictures of airplanes:

http://www.amjetexecutive.com/media/gallery/big.php?ext=1&model=md83&num=0

http://www.amjetexecutive.com/media/gallery/big.php?ext=2&model=md83&num=2

http://www.amjetexecutive.com/media/gallery/big.php?ext=1&model=2000lx&num=0

http://www.amjetexecutive.com/media/gallery/big.php?ext=2&model=2000lx&num=0


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http://www.aviator.gr/logo.png (http://www.aviator.gr/)


History of the company :

AVIATOR AIRWAYS was established in 1992 and specializes in the areas of VIP, Business/ Executive Transport, Tourist, Air Ambulance and Cargo Transport. It is affiliated with Pandair Handling SA which affords it superior ground handling services in all Greek airports.

AVIATOR AIRWAYS operates from the Athens International Airport and can fly anywhere around Greece or Europe, departing immediately.

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:


1 BEECHCRAFT 1900D Airliner
1 BEECHCRAFT Super King Air 200
1 Bae Jetstream 31



Total 3


Average Age of fleet: ? Years

pictures of airplanes:

http://i49.************/2953i9s.jpg (http://runway14.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html)


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http://www.gainjet.com/media/gen/gj_hdr.gif (http://www.gainjet.com/)

History of the company :

Gainjet Aviation is a Private executive Charter Operator and Management Company with its headquarters based in Athens, Greece, and a sales office based in the United Kingdom.
The company holds a worldwide EU-OPS-1 (AOC).

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:


1 Boeing 757 Executive Airliner
1 Boeing 737-300 Executive Airliner
1 Gulfstream G550
1 Gulfstream G450
1 BAe146-200 RJ
4 Gulfstream G200
1 Embraer Phenom-100
1 Bell 412 (Helicopter)
Future 1 Gulfstream G450
Future 1 Gulfstream G650




Total 11+2


Average Age of fleet: 17.8 Years

pictures of airplanes:

http://static.planespotters.net/photo/114000/original/PlanespottersNet_114501.jpg (http://www.planespotters.net/Aviation_Photos/photo.show?id=114501)

http://www.gainjet.com/media/fleet_photos/B757_SXRFA/B757_SXRFA_int6.jpg

http://www.airpics.net/UserFiles/pics/large/SX-MTF-Boeing-737-300-GainJet-Aviation/12900/12885l.jpg (http://www.airpics.net/photo/SX-MTF-Boeing-737-300-GainJet-Aviation/12885/L)

http://www.gainjet.com/media/fleet_photos/B737/B737_int3.jpg

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/middle/0/4/0/1257040.jpg (http://www.airliners.net/photo/Untitled-%28GainJet%29/Gulfstream-Aerospace-G200/1257040/&sid=8ae7f6c7067f0d5cfc597bc1220a838a)

http://www.gainjet.com/media/fleet_photos/G200_SXIDA/G200_SXIDA_int3.jpg
http://www.airpics.net/UserFiles/pics/large/SX-NSS-Embraer-Phenom100-GainJet-Aviation/11500/11462l.jpg (http://www.airpics.net/photo/SX-NSS-Embraer-Phenom100-GainJet-Aviation/11462/L)



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http://www.k2smartjets.com/images/logo.jpg (http://www.k2smartjets.com/)

History of the company :

K2 Smart Jets is an executive charter airline based in Athens.

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:


1 Embraer Legacy 600
1 Cessna Citation XLS



Total 2


pictures of K2 Smart Jets Aircrafts:

http://www.k2smartjets.com/gr/k2gallery/embraer_legacy/images/1.jpg (http://www.k2smartjets.com/gr/k2gallery/embraer_legacy/index.html)


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http://www.lifeline-aviation.gr/templates/theme312/images/logo.gif (http://www.lifeline-aviation.gr)
History of the company :

LIFE LINE AVIATION was founded on 1997 and its activities include charter flights and special services with both aircrafts and helicopters.

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:


1 PIPER PA 31 T CHEYENNE II
1 BEECHCRAFT BARON 58
1 CESSNA 500 I



Total 3


pictures of LIFE LINE AVIATION airplanes:

http://www.lifeline-aviation.gr/images/stories/CHEYENNE_II/_DSC0261.jpg (http://www.lifeline-aviation.gr/en/fleet/51-piper-pa-31-t-cheyenne-ii.html)

http://www.lifeline-aviation.gr/images/stories/BEECHCRAFT_BARON_58/_DSC0229.jpg

http://www.lifeline-aviation.gr/images/stories/CESSNA_SITATION_I/IMG_6958.jpg


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Γειά σου ρε αππιστευτε πιλότε. Η αεροπορια έίναι μια αγάπη που έχω εξ' ίσου με την αρχιτεκτονική. Ε, ρε τρέλλα...

I am surprised that there are so many Hellenic companies operating in the civil Aviation sector. Now does this mean that once Olympic Airways faces no other option than liquidation, its assets and resources will be absorbed by these carrers?

Few visitors and Hellenes alike know hat Greece was amongst the first to operate air carrier companies, even as early as the 1930s. hellenes gad always great aviation skills, this is why, despite the management problems of Olympic Airways, their Safety Record remains impeccable and the Hellene pilots are amongst the best in the world.

And BTW, there seems to be another airline, namely the "Hellenic Imperial Airways". Some info gathered by Konstantinoupolis can be seen HERE (http://skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=10748460&postcount=98). I am not sure though whether this is an entirely Greek-owned company.

For the record, these are the past days of glory: One of the B474-200 connecting Athens with North America, before being put out of commission...

http://www.kalfakis.gr/images/logos/SX-OAD_OA747_new.jpg

http://eu.airliners.net/photos/photos/0/8/1/0176180.jpg

Δεος... Awe...

And BTW, there seems to be another airline, namely the "Hellenic Imperial Airways". Some info gathered by Konstantinoupolis can be seen HERE. I am not sure though whether this is an entirely Greek-owned company.

Yep it seems that there is a company named like that, i couldnt find any resources for that 1 though, but as i saw in a greek aviation forum they have 5 of their arcrafts stationed at Athens international airport.
Anyway i did add that 1 also on my post.

As for the furure of the olympic airways "enas theos kserei"...god knows :bash:

The golden age of olympic was when onassis was the owner, it was one of the 1st air companies in the world to introduce jet aircraft in civil aviation, and was even interesting to use the "black" diamond of the civil aviation, the legendery concorde.

But when the state takes over anything in greece the result is the same, it destroys it.
So the future of the company does not exist anymore , the only solution is to privitise it as soon as possible.And here it comes the eu penalty that was applied to the company for illegal funds that the greek state provided.
So its really complicated at the moment.
Lets all hope that they will finally find a solution to save the historical airlines company.

GM233 wrote:

...hellenes gad always great aviation skills, this is why, despite the management problems of Olympic Airways, their Safety Record remains impeccable and the Hellene pilots are amongst the best in the world.


This is probably the first and last time I am in disagreement with something Gregory has posted:bash:

First of all this talk about an "impeccable" safety record is a red herring:

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19990914-2

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19761123-2

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19721021-0

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19720218-0

http://aviation-safety.net/database/operator/airline.php?var=4968


Considering how few miles Olympic flies 96 deaths is not a laughing matter.

Also the comment about Greeks being better pilots just doesn't wash with those of us that reside abroad. Someone being better has nothing to do with whether they are Greek German Italian etc.....

In the seventies when I was young and foolish I would bite my tongue, and fly Olympic Smokeways for purely ethnocentric reasons. Now that I have my own family and young children I would never risk flying with Olympic. Not when there are far better alternatives like Air-Canada/Lufthansa.

Aegean on the other hand is world class.

*

Considering how few miles Olympic flies 96 deaths is not a laughing matter.

Well i am forced to disagree with you now, the last accident of OA was in 1989, about the falcon , that was the greek goverments aircraft and OA was responsible only for the technical maintenance.

Aciddents according to wikipedia :

* October 29, 1959: An Olympic Airways Douglas Aircraft Company DC-3 crashed near Athens, Greece. All 18 persons on board (15 passengers and 3 crew members) perished
* December 8, 1969: An Olympic Airways Douglas DC-6 crashed near Keratea, Athens, Greece. All 90 persons on board (85 passengers and 5 crew members) perished
* February 18, 1972: An Olympic Aviation Learjet crashed off the coast of Monte Carlo. All 2 crew members were killed.
* October 21, 1972: An Olympic Airways NAMC YS-11 crashed off the coast of Voula, Athens, Greece. 37 persons on board (36 passengers and 1 crew member) drowned, while 16 passengers and 3 crew members were rescued.
* November 23, 1976: An Olympic Airways NAMC YS-11 crashed near Kozani, Greece. All 46 passengers and 4 crew members perished.
* August 3, 1989: An Olympic Aviation Shorts 330 crashed near Samos Airport, Greece. All 31 passengers and 3 crew members were killed.

As for the incident on 12 AUG 1997, i see that responsible was the airport and the wather conditions, that has nothing to do with the company's safety, but i understand that the general worldwide aviation safety is calculated with both incidents and accidents, even if the weather or the poor airport's facilities are responsilbe.

It should be noted, that none of those fatality's involved Jet Aircrafts and all domestic.

I agree that Olympic Airways is one of the most safe. The above just proves exactly that! I have traveled with Olympic several times in the past and i was quite satisfied. From abroad i think Lutfhansa is one of the best.
It's a shame that the Greek state and some employees never consider this very important airliner as a serious business.:bash:
Btw i didn't know that Olympic was intresting to fly the concorde back in the 70's!!! Concorde was (still is) one my passions. BA & AirFrance should be proud for these aircrafts (last flight took place back in 2003 by a BA concorde):)

Btw i didn't know that Olympic was intresting to fly the concorde back in the 70's!!!

And if the "onassis tragedy" didnt ever happened, then i m sure that they would have use it.

We need to take some things into perspective here.

OA is a case needed to be examined on a psychologist's couch.

On the one hand you have a company who has been abused by the state repeatedly since many times state agencies were not paying the tickets of state officials travelling with the national carrier.

Also, being a public sector organisation it was used by each successive political party in power to serve as a social policy vessel, namely by hiring voters into it.

Pilotos knows that unfortunately, OA will NOT restore its original healthy status unless it is shut down and resumes operations on a "zero" basis. Unfortunately, this will involve the firing of many of its staff, mainly from the offices and ground operations. Although it will be difficult for fired pilots and cabin crews to get a job elsewhere, I reckon that a "re-boot" of the company's operations won't affect them.

Unfortunately, if, say, a romantic dream Greek-American patriot, "business angel" or a Greece based one like Latsis or whoever else, is interested in buying OA , they will for sure ask for a "carte blanche" from the government, which is, AT LAST to have a full viability study conducted that will lead to a full restructuring and re-engineering of the company before it starts operations, probably with a different name and logo which it would be good to maintain the five circles and the word "Olympic" in it, since it was proven by marketing research that customer awareness is high on those two brand attributes.

Also, I wouldn't poke on the pilots, engineers and technical stuff of the company. I insist that they are amongst the finest in the industry, plus, I was happy to receive inside information in the past about even unnecessary expenses undertaken in order for aircraft safety to not be compromised. True though, there have also been reported cases of misappropriation of funds, materials mishandling (including a missing jet engine for Christ's sake???!!! ), etc. But no, I don't think safety procedures are compromised, and this, in contrast to the practice of other foreign airlines whose unscrupulous safety processes have made the news on the covers of general and specialised aviation press.

Unfortunately though, I believe it's time to call it a day with the present status of OA and reset the counter with an entirely new airline that will continue to lead the Hellenic wings into the 21st century.

And if the "onassis tragedy" didnt ever happened, then i m sure that they would have use it.

Yes. That would have been great for Olympic. Check out this photo of the concord in Athens for the demonstration flight:

(I cant display the image here so click on the link)
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0024603/M/

And if the "onassis tragedy" didnt ever happened, then i m sure that they would have use it.

if concorde would have been in the fleet then the end for OA would have been earlier...

I also think 747 was a useless plane for OA. Too big for Greek routes. I'm sure they've lost alot of money while trying to keep that plane in the fleet.

if concorde would have been in the fleet then the end for OA would have been earlier...

I also think 747 was a useless plane for OA. Too big for Greek routes. I'm sure they've lost alot of money while trying to keep that plane in the fleet.

Did air-france or british airways died due to the use of concorde? not at all.
And trust me if "onassis tragedy" havent took place , then OA would have been more elegant and certainly one of the best airlines.

As for 747, the aircraft was flying to intercontinental flights and not regional.
And for the loss that OA had, has nothing to do with the 747, just with the idiotic management of the greek state.

How can you compare OA with AF and BA? Those are two of the giant carriers of the skies. They had plenty of rich passengers that could chose concorde on the famous routes like paris-london-nyc. Even then concorde never was profitable for these airlines. They used concorde as a source of prestige.

if concorde would have been in the fleet then the end for OA would have been earlier...

I also think 747 was a useless plane for OA. Too big for Greek routes. I'm sure they've lost alot of money while trying to keep that plane in the fleet.

Actually there are rumors by the employes at JFK in the US that Olympic wants to order 2 747's for its New York route in the summer time, while deploying the A340's it has to a new route, Chicago and also bangkok in 2008.

Even though Olympic is a dieing company, it is still fighting hard. In the spring they are launching China routes. (which is a fact)

Whats the best airline service in Greece ?

I think it is Aegean

How can you compare OA with AF and BA? Those are two of the giant carriers of the skies. They had plenty of rich passengers that could chose concorde on the famous routes like paris-london-nyc. Even then concorde never was profitable for these airlines. They used concorde as a source of prestige.

Part of article found in www.hoav.com:
" 1972 and 1973 were monumental years for OA, 1972 being the first year OA became a truly worldwide airlines spanning all five continents with the addition of the Athens to Sydney route. Another major time in OA's history was the purchase of Boeing's 747 aircraft in 1973, nicknamed the "Jumbo” for it's size,
brought a whole new approach to flying with more elegance and luxury than every before seen. First class passengers had spacious seats, wined and dined with crystal and silverware and had comforts never before found on an aircraft.
Traveling long distance was now something exciting and luxurious, and phrases such as "jet-sets" became common among the passengers of the time. OA came to own five such aircraft when other airlines could not afford to own any, all this for a country of nine million people at the time."

I beilieve this can answer to the " They had plenty of rich passengers that could chose concorde on the famous routes like paris-london-nyc", dont forget that others than greeks could also use OA aircrafts.
Olympic was the first airline to have scheduled flights to five continents.
Olympic was the only private national airline in the world(which gave his company a lot of advantages, such as loans with low tax rates and monopoly on Greek aviation).
I dont compare todays OA , but i would compare Onassis OA with ba or af,and i dont doubt that the reason for OA interest on concorde was prestige also.

Unfortunately we never saw how the company would have evolutioned, but i do dare to compare those giants with OA due to the fact that the company's last years(last onassis years) had some great profits after a long loss period, and had already become a worldwide airline company.

Whats the best airline service in Greece ?

Ye it seems so, aegean has also been awarded 2 times by the EUROPEAN
REGIONS AIRLINE ASSOCIATION.

Not to mention that during their "golden times" they actually had gold silver-wear (is that what its called?) and fine china with gold edges and crystal glasses for their first class. I believe Olympic still would have been a big player in the market, if the Onassis tragedy never happened, and Greece didn't take over.

Unfortunately, the measures that have to be taken to rectify the situation are hard...

Part of article found in www.hoav.com:
" 1972 and 1973 were monumental years for OA, 1972 being the first year OA became a truly worldwide airlines spanning all five continents with the addition of the Athens to Sydney route. Another major time in OA's history was the purchase of Boeing's 747 aircraft in 1973, nicknamed the "Jumbo” for it's size,
brought a whole new approach to flying with more elegance and luxury than every before seen. First class passengers had spacious seats, wined and dined with crystal and silverware and had comforts never before found on an aircraft.
Traveling long distance was now something exciting and luxurious, and phrases such as "jet-sets" became common among the passengers of the time. OA came to own five such aircraft when other airlines could not afford to own any, all this for a country of nine million people at the time."

I beilieve this can answer to the " They had plenty of rich passengers that could chose concorde on the famous routes like paris-london-nyc", dont forget that others than greeks could also use OA aircrafts.
Olympic was the first airline to have scheduled flights to five continents.
Olympic was the only private national airline in the world(which gave his company a lot of advantages, such as loans with low tax rates and monopoly on Greek aviation).
I dont compare todays OA , but i would compare Onassis OA with ba or af,and i dont doubt that the reason for OA interest on concorde was prestige also.

Unfortunately we never saw how the company would have evolutioned, but i do dare to compare those giants with OA due to the fact that the company's last years(last onassis years) had some great profits after a long loss period, and had already become a worldwide airline company.



Ye it seems so, aegean has also been awarded 2 times by the EUROPEAN
REGIONS AIRLINE ASSOCIATION.


When concorde was first introduced to the market the oil prices were significantly low. Many airlines including OA considered this plane as a possible addition to their fleet but then we had oil crisis, the prices sky rocketed and suddenly concorde wasn't a profitable plane for the airlines anymore so only BA and AF had concorde in their fleet and mostly because it was France and Britain that produced this plane.

For BA and AF it was a question of prestige to have the Concorde in their fleets. After all, it is the product of joint efforts of their national aerospace industries if I am not mistaken...

Actually there were 14 such aircrafts produced for commersial flights. Seven for AirFrance and seven for BA.
But now there's a new "king of the skies" the Airbus A380. I don't think that any Greek airline company will ever order one, but there are about 166 orders already from various foreign airline companies. First order (back in 2000) was from the Emirates airline combany (Dubai). From what i've heard the Athens International airport may need some infastructure modifications for the A380 to land!!

Well u cant really compare Concorde with A-380, the 1st one was a supersonic civil aircraft (able to fly with 2.02 mach speed), and on the other hand A-380 its just a huge aircraft which have nothing new to introduce in the civil airlines, the 1st of its kind was the wellknown jumbo(747) that was made by boeing back to the 70es.
As for Greek companies, there is not any reason for them to use it, its too huge for our small companies.

From what i've heard the Athens International airport may need some infastructure modifications for the A380 to land!!

Funny....lets think of that a bit, which serious aircraft manufacturer would make an aircraft that would require most of the worlds airports to extend their runaway?(Nobody ofc)
The fact is that the A380 was designed to fit within an 80 x 80 m airport gate, and can land or take off on any runway that can take a Boeing 747.

And for the record, this is still the largest aircraft in the world(Antonov An-225):
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Buran_AN-225.jpg

I do not compare the Concorde with the A380. But Concorde is history and the A380 is the "king" nowadays!
Indeed the A380 is designed to fit an 80 x 80 m airport gate but still some airports may need modifications...... that's why there were some airport compatibility tests for the A380 (in Frankfurt, London Heathrow, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo and more).:)

From what I know, ATH is able to take on the A380 as it has a sufficiently wide enough run-way and gates. The only thing that may need to be done, is they might need to re-enfource the bridges over the highway if landing on the runway opposite to the terminal. (That what Chicago has to do according to a news article today about it visiting in March)

But what really doomed the Concord was the fact that countries would not allow it to travel at super-sonic speeds over land.

You are all right about one thing though: The battle between size and speed has been fought and decided long ago. Now we see yet another wide-bodied fat cow reaching for the skies, probably equipped with avionics that will almost make pilots mere observers of the readings of its advanced flight management systems.

I wish it good luck. However, I feel compelled to observe that in my humble opinion I haven't seen any dramatic changes as far as commercial airplane designs are concerned. Sure, now we have sexy wingtips and curvaceous fuselages but I am afraid that the principles reigning the aircraft design have not been -vivibly- changed since the good ole B 707

My :2cents:

You are all right about one thing though: The battle between size and speed has been fought and decided long ago. Now we see yet another wide-bodied fat cow reaching for the skies, probably equipped with avionics that will almost make pilots mere observers of the readings of its advanced flight management systems.

I wish it good luck. However, I feel compelled to observe that in my humble opinion I haven't seen any dramatic changes as far as commercial airplane designs are concerned. Sure, now we have sexy wingtips and curvaceous fuselages but I am afraid that the principles reigning the aircraft design have not been -vivibly- changed since the good ole B 707

My :2cents:



I agree in a 100% with that.

Regarding the design I think we won't see anything new until at least late 10's decade.

As for the airport runways, Athens is more than able to hold the big boy of the airplanes as it's well known that in general European aipts have longer rwys than their American counterparts. And Athens is no the exception having rwys with the same length as those of Frankfurt or Barajas.

What they should reinforce though maybe is the crossbridge as Grk101 mentioned above and maybe it's time for that awaited airport expantion to hold the number of passgs the next decade will require (20-30m) something that will for sure come along with the A380.

Btw, the A380 will not operate until at least 2008 for some technical issues that must be corrected and accordingly delaying its delivery to companies, so that's why many airlines took back their orders claiming a lack of seriousness from part of the manufacturer, turning their preferences accordingly towards its main competitor.

Btw, the A380 will not operate until at least 2008 for some technical issues that must be corrected and accordingly delaying its delivery to companies, so that's why many airlines took back their orders claiming a lack of seriousness from part of the manufacturer, turning their preferences accordingly towards its main competitor.

Actually the only company to actually cancel it's order was FedEX, and that was for the Freighter version. That being said, I think the real time Athens has to see the A380 would be sometime after 2010. There is no way it will come before then since they will be limited on the market and airlines prefer to fly them on more profitable routes.

With the amount of orders Aegean has now, doesn't it mean that by 2009 it will be the biggest airline of Greece in terms of fleet size?

Olympic Airlines is a lost cause. What is the latest with it? I hope it gets privatised and relaunched with new logo and livery. I designed a livery for the A340 here:
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/6714/olynewrenderxv1.jpg
I preserved the six rings (I was going to revert back to five rings like the very original logo but thought not too). I kept this livery specifically blue and white though which could either be a good thing or a bad thing.

Anyway, looks like Aegean can be the contender to being the major airline of Greece within the next decade. Lets see how that goes...

;15284420']With the amount of orders Aegean has now, doesn't it mean that by 2009 it will be the biggest airline of Greece in terms of fleet size?

Olympic Airlines is a lost cause. What is the latest with it? I hope it gets privatised and relaunched with new logo and livery. I designed a livery for the A340 here:
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/6714/olynewrenderxv1.jpg
I preserved the six rings (I was going to revert back to five rings like the very original logo but thought not too). I kept this livery specifically blue and white though which could either be a good thing or a bad thing.

Anyway, looks like Aegean can be the contender to being the major airline of Greece within the next decade. Lets see how that goes...


very nice livery!!!
why dont they start firing excess personel in olympic airlines?

;15284420']With the amount of orders Aegean has now, doesn't it mean that by 2009 it will be the biggest airline of Greece in terms of fleet size?

Olympic Airlines is a lost cause. What is the latest with it? I hope it gets privatised and relaunched with new logo and livery. I designed a livery for the A340 here:
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/6714/olynewrenderxv1.jpg
I preserved the six rings (I was going to revert back to five rings like the very original logo but thought not too). I kept this livery specifically blue and white though which could either be a good thing or a bad thing.

Anyway, looks like Aegean can be the contender to being the major airline of Greece within the next decade. Lets see how that goes...

Nice livery! The aircraft Aegean has on order was ordered at first to replace the aging B-737 fleet. But now they have exercised options for expansion and have 25 on order. When they retire all their 737's and receive the 25 A-320's then they should have a total of 34/35 (one of them is private jet) planes assuming they dont order any new regional planes plus another option for a further 8 A-320's to be delivered in 2010.

Currently Olympic has 41 planes, 4 of which are A-340, long haul planes. This is something Aegean does not have. There are rumors that Olympic will order or lease new planes along with upgrading their product. Their is also said to be re-structuring going on behind the scene at Olympic. But we will see how that will go....They have semi-upgraded their site and implemented E-Tickets currently.

So Olympic will still be the biggest airline in Greece assuming their fleet size stays the same and Aegean doesn't order those extra 8 options.

ASTRA AIRLINES Ανοίγει τα φτερά της με έδρα τη Θεσσαλονίκη

http://www.dailyfrappe.com/Portals/0/images/stories/news-stories/2008/Astra%20Airlines.jpg

Ανοίγει τα… φτερά της στις 5 Ιουλίου η πρώτη αεροπορική εταιρεία της Θεσσαλονίκης, με την επωνυμία Astra Airlines, η οποία θα εκτελεί μόνο ναυλωμένες πτήσεις (charter).

Όπως τονίζει μιλώντας στη “Μ” η υπεύθυνη του εμπορικού τμήματος της εταιρείας Δέσποινα Λιόλιου, το επενδυτικό πρόγραμμα που ολοκλήρωσε η Astra ανέρχεται σε 8 εκατ. ευρώ και αφορά την αγορά ενός αεροσκάφους τύπου BAe 146-300, 112 θέσεων, και τη δημιουργία των εγκαταστάσεών της, που βρίσκονται στο 12ο χλμ. Θεσσαλονίκης-Μουδανιών.
Η πρώτη πτήση της εταιρείας (στις 5 Ιουλίου) κατευθύνεται από τη Θεσσαλονίκη στη Ρόδο, ενώ παράλληλα θα εκτελεί τόσο πτήσεις εσωτερικού όσο και πτήσεις σε ευρωπαϊκούς προορισμούς.
Η Astra Airlines δημιουργήθηκε από δύο έλληνες επιχειρηματίες, τον Ιωάννη Ζλατάνη, βασικό μέτοχο της εταιρείας Interaviator, και τον Αναστάσιο Ζηρίνη, ο οποίος θα αναλάβει την πτητική εκμετάλλευση της Astra.
Στόχος της νέας αεροπορικής εταιρείας είναι να συμπληρώσει τα κενά που υπάρχουν στην αεροπορική αγορά, κυρίως στη μεταφορά μικρών γκρουπ, να εξυπηρετήσει κατά κύριο λόγο τις ανάγκες της Βόρειας Ελλάδας και να συμβάλει στην ανάπτυξη του εισερχόμενου τουρισμού και των αναδυόμενων αγορών.
“Σήμερα δεν υπάρχουν μικρά αεροσκάφη για τη μεταφορά μικρών γκρουπ και αυτό το κενό έρχεται να καλύψει η Astra Airlines. Στο μεταξύ σημαντικό είναι το γεγονός ότι αποτελεί την πρώτη αεροπορική εταιρεία με βάση τη Θεσσαλονίκη, γεγονός που πιστεύουμε ότι θα συμβάλει στην ανάπτυξη της περιοχής”, διευκρινίζει η κ. Λιόλιου.
Πελάτες της Astra Airlines είναι τα ταξιδιωτικά πρακτορεία, αεροπορικές εταιρείες, σύλλογοι, ομάδες, διοργανωτές συνεδρίων κτλ. που επιθυμούν τη διοργάνωση ταξιδιού άνω των 50 ατόμων.
Ερωτηθείσα εάν την εταιρεία ενδιαφέρει η δραστηριοποίησή της και στην εκτέλεση τακτικών δρομολογίων, η κ. Λιόλιου επισημαίνει ότι αυτό θα εξαρτηθεί από τις ανάγκες της αγοράς.
Τα εγκαίνια της Astra θα πραγματοποιηθούν στις 9 Ιουλίου στο αεροδρόμιο "Μακεδονία" παρουσία του υπουργού Μεταφορών και Επικοινωνιών Κωστή Χατζηδάκη.

http://www.makthes.gr/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=20265

Didn't know we had that many airlines.
I only knew Olympic and Aegean. :P

There was also Macedonian Airlines, a subsidiary of Olympic Airlines. It no longer operates however. Shame.

http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/9827/macedoniancd9.jpg
http://web.archive.org/web/20010606152401/http://www.macedonian-airlines.gr/images/maclogo17suk.jpg
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/634/512343pz0.jpg

Some interesting facts.

Macedonian Airlines was created in 1992 as the charter subsidiary of the Greek national airline, Olympic Airways. The Olympic Airways management board decided to rename the charter subsidiary of the Group, Olympic AirTours in 1992 and the Macedonian Airlines brand name was created.

The company had nothing to do with the Skopjian MAT Macedonian Airlines, which was founded two years later, in 1994.

Even back in 1994, the Skopjians were playing games at our expense.

Though the airline may not longer be trading,you would hope that the greek state/ greek interests, still retain ownership over this very important brand name.

Personally I'd like to see it started up as a regional carrier servicing the South East Europe, maybe a new low cost airline?, or even a small airline flying around Greece.

Actually Olympic wont operate either soon, so its not weird that Macedonian doesn't operates, but of course brand names and trade marks will always be owned by the company, and thats one of the problems they face when they try to sell it, they cost too much.

Anyone seen Olympic's "new site"?
Pathetic, still using the same ridiculous jpeg raped banner.
Should we make them a new one or what?

I don't think its that bad. It is a BIG improvement over the old site, but still needs some work.

It sort of shows that OA is still working to keep alive and become better even though their future looks bad. There was an interview this past month in an Airline magazine by the OA CEO that stated they were looking into leasing newer airplanes and phasing out the older B737-400's.

Anyone seen Olympic's "new site"?
Pathetic, still using the same ridiculous jpeg raped banner.
Should we make them a new one or what?

It's not that bad. Look at Qatar Airways site, pretty similar. And Qatar Airways is one of the few 5 star airlines in the world. I think there's only 5 or 6 with such a rating.
Although I agree the logo on OA's site needs changing.

Pantheon Airways prepares for takeoff

The government is preparing to reactivate the Pantheon Airways scheme to provide a successor to Olympic Airlines, according to Transport Ministry sources.

The plan to be submitted to the European Commission provides for the concession of the operations and rights of Olympic Airlines to Pantheon. The size of the new venture will be roughly 50 percent of today’s Olympic, against a Commission requirement of 40 percent. The Olympic group will also conduct a voluntary exit program to reduce its staff by about 2,300 employees (2,000 administrative and 300 crew). It is not yet clear how the program will be funded.

Speaking to Olympic’s pilots last Friday, Transport Minister Costis Hatzidakis said the plan would be tabled to the Commission in Brussels by the end of the month.

Hatzidakis also estimated that the activation of Pantheon will begin in October and for a period of six months the two companies will operate in parallel.

Against this background, Economy and Finance Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis last Friday tabled an amendment in Parliament which will protect Pantheon against any claims from Olympic’s creditors.

Hatzidakis further told the pilots that some 100-110 of them could be dismissed and requested their union’s view about the terms for the pilots’ exit.

The union asked the minister for a specific proposal so that they can discuss it at a later date.


------

What is the Pantheon Airways scheme?
Is this a new airline to replace Olympic, or am I missing something here?

It seems like a really bad idea to me for the Greek government to dismantle Olympic and rename it Pantheon. Despite Olympics problems it has brand name recognition which is world wide. Olympic also has a very good safety record. Onassis built up the airline and Greek government completely mismanaged it. Even if the airline needs to be further restructured, why get rid of the name? Perhaps as the article above suggests to protect Pantheon against any claims from Olympic’s creditors? I think it’s a bad business practise to mess with a strong brand name. Besides even though Pantheon is a Greek name, the first place I think of is the Pantheon in Rome followed by the Pantheon in Paris, I don't think of Greece. The Olympic name has a lot of potential, it's time for the Greek government to rethink its position.

*

A guy sitting at an airport bar in Atlanta noticed a beautiful woman sitting next to him. He thought to himself, "Wow, she's so gorgeous she must be a flight attendant. But which airline does she work for?"

Hoping to pick her up, he leaned towards her and uttered the Delta slogan: "Love to fly and it shows?" She gave him a blank, confused stare and he immediately thought to himself, "Ooh shit, she doesn't work for Delta".

A moment later, another slogan popped into his head. He leaned towards her again, "Something special in the air?" Once again she gave him the same confused look. He mentally kicked himself and scratched American Airlines off the list.

Next he tried the United slogan: "I would really love to fly your friendly skies?" This time the woman turned on him. "What the fuck do you want?" she snapped. The man smiled, then slumped back in his chair and said... "Ahhh, Olympic Airways!"

*

lol that was funny.

Does Olympic still allow smoking on its planes?
Qantas, the Australian national carrier, has re-introduced the sale of cigarettes on its planes.

Qantas, the Australian national carrier, has re-introduced the sale of cigarettes on its planes.


Guess I won't be flying Quantas anytime soon. That's disgusting.

I'm old enough to remember when every meal served aboard an airliner had a complimentary package of two cigarettes-Marlaboro's or Winstons I believe.

It was a carryover from WW2 when US K Rations were served with cigarettes in them. They developed a lot of smokers during the war!

lol that was funny.

Does Olympic still allow smoking on its planes?
Qantas, the Australian national carrier, has re-introduced the sale of cigarettes on its planes.

No, not since the 90's. It is against the law to smoke on a plane worldwide. The sale of cigarettes is another story though.

Regarding Pantheon, we have been hearing the same thing over and over again for the past 2 years atleast. And I am not sold on the name. Pantheon is not a word you hear and think of Greece.

I agree. And the name it self doesn't really seem suited to an airline.
It would be a shame to lose Olympic as the national carrier. *sigh*

So it looks like Pantheon Airways is moving forward. From what I have heard on Greek TV, Pantheon Airways plans to start operation this fall. It will be run for 6 months along side Olympic Airlines until they can transition everything. Meaning in Spring 2009, Olympic will no exist anymore.

I have seen on Greek news that they have already set up offices for Pantheon.

Some interesting information about Pantheon Airways that I found on http://gogreece.about.com/od/domesticairlines/gr/pantheonairline.htm -- This is what is being said in the Greek media.

Description
* Pantheon Airlines would only operate domestic flights in Greece.
* Pantheon Airlines would be the only provider for some unprofitable routes to lesser-known Greek islands.
* Former Olympic Airlines pilots, crew, and administrators are expected to be staffing Pantheon.

Guide Review - Pantheon Airlines
Pantheon may be the new name for Olympic Airlines if the Greek government can persuade the European Union to accept the new airline. The change is forced by massive fines against Greece for illegally subsidizing Olympic Airlines with hundreds of millions of Euros. Small airlines in the EU, such as Ryan Air, took offense at this illicit subsidy and have demanded that the EU take action.

What to Expect During the Olympic-Pantheon Transition

At present (July 2008) the plan is for Pantheon to operate alongside Olympic Airlines for about six months, beginning in the Fall of 2008. In Spring 2009, Olympic Airlines would completely cease operations, leaving Pantheon in place as its successor.

Pantheon will only handle domestic flights; the era of Greece having an official international airline seems to be over.



Also, they seem to have set up a website currently under construction: http://www.pantheonairways.gr/



Very sad to see the international routes go, especially the JFK route which is profitable and I have flown many times. :ohno: Maybe Aegean can step up their game in the international market and order some long-haul planes. I wonder what will happen with the London route (LHR), which was also profitable. I know the slots are worth A LOT of money.

I doubt it will stay a domestic only airline for long.
Give it a few years to get on its feet and establish a market share, and I'm sure they will introduce international routes.

If they don't get rid off most of Olympic's staff and introduce some kind of private sector management the new company will end up going bust probably within 5 years

I agree. It's a nasty situation out there calling for economies of scale, departmentalization of routes and the formation of alliances to attain efficiency through collaboration with other carriers.

It is a miracle that Olympic managed to survive in the first place and one might say that this was achieved due to the willingness of the Greeks to even sacrifice some of the their taxed income in order to be devoted to the survival of the company and all that for emotional reasons.

This is good but still, the problems remained. We all know that had this situation taken place in any other airline, layoffs, restructuring and downsizing would be the order of the day. In earlier times when most Greeks had a relative or absolute job security, this might have been unacceptable. Today, with the current situation at hand and with some 15 years of employment insecurity being the order for the non-state owned sector, one may wonder why s/he should have to finance an organization with his precious taxed income that offers such poor service, did almost nothing to improve the quality of its services over the years and which has been an incubator for political favoritism and nepotism in dark times where the rest of the society faces serious problems such as unemployment, underemployment and poor job quality in many cases.

The continuation of the operation of Olympic Airlines today constitutes a social hazard and needs to be considered accordingly. Too bad this happened since especially its flying and engineering staff are amongst the best in the world but this fact alone is not enough to ensure survivability given the current state of affairs of the company.

:ohno: Olympic is the pits...TOTALLY unprofessional outfit, an embaressment to the country. However i've heard people say it has its merits, because the service is SO BAD that it prepares you for what to expect once you've landed. Quite disgraceful for a so-called 'tourist nation'. The sooner it's gone the better!! :bash:

:ohno: Olympic is the pits...TOTALLY unprofessional outfit, an embaressment to the country. However i've heard people say it has its merits, because the service is SO BAD that it prepares you for what to expect once you've landed. Quite disgraceful for a so-called 'tourist nation'. The sooner it's gone the better!! :bash:

^^ Are you doing this on purpose?

http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/attachments/kill-stories/17551d1151757932-06-360z-kill-attention_whore.jpg

I beg your pardon? I'm expressing my view, which I'm sure many would agree with, even you. No need for personal insults. That's quite immature!!

^^ Well, I'll quinch your attention-thirst a little bit more by telling you that your posts' spirit follow a certain path full of empathy that it is getting annoying to many! If you are not mature enough to comprehend it it's your problem. I'm personally done with paying attention to you.
I apologise to everyone else for this small rant of mine (at least I tried to make it funny! :D ).

As I understand it, they do plan to layoff people and downsize to 50 or 40 percent of their current size. And most of the domestic routes to the islands that are less known that Pantheon plans to serve, are actually legally subsidized by the government since it is their only way of transportation for many of the islands.

The major disadvantage of this solution will be the loss of the trademark (but not the goodwill which stands for little or no added value at all, as a matter of fact, many say it has a negative value already) which even 5-10 years ago could have stood as the basis for something new with the same name to take off (which in fact happened when the Olympic Airways closed and Olympic airlines opened.

If someone was to resort to business value analysis models they could find little heavens in the middle of the stork though. The pilots appear to be top-notch and amongst the best of their league, easily employable in ANY major world-class airline. The safety record of the company, at least until the mid 2000s is by far top ranking and so is the knowledge capital of the technical and engineering staff. Also, the technical base (hub) of OA in the Athens International Airport (I reckon it still belongs to OA) is also top notch, whose services are leased by many major international carriers too.

The main problem however is that the company has to undergo a major restructuring, since its strategic management is almost nonexistent and subject to old-fashioned political favoritism and nepotism. Unfortunately, addressing this issue will greatly affect the status of the employment of many OA office employees who will have to be retrained, re-skilled or even to be made redundant, which is rather unlikely for a numbel of local prevailing reasons.

However, all action should not be taken in a vindictive manner but with the aim to protect public interest. Of course, I would like the new entity to be called "Olympic Airways" rather than Pantheon. However, I am afraid that this name has negative connotations outside the circle of the Greek customers (both from the omogeneia as well as the mainland).

...in any case, action needs to be taken FAST...

Does anyone know in depth which routes rae profitable for olympic airlines and which arent?

I believe that Aegean should have been serving by now routes that are very important and have little comtetition such as Paris, Istanbul, LHR, Moscow, Berlin, Zurich, brussels.

What do you guys think?

Also, does anyone knows if Aegean is planning to serve new destinations anytime soon?

All I know is that Aegean has placed an order for a remarkable number of mid-range mid-sized jet commuters and obviously, expansion of its routes network should be seen as imminent.

Also, there is indeed a considerable issue with OA regarding the "unpopular" or "unfrequented" routes especially domestic which are kept as part of the social policy of the governments regarding isolated or remote borderline locations whose existence and connection with the "center" promotes "national interests" Sure these routes may not be profitable.

However, I don't believe that this is the main cause of trouble for OA as with better administration, am sure the profitable routes could "subsidize" the non-profitable ones. This strategy though would require better overall operational efficiency. Or else, as in our case, it becomes a dangerous luxury.

Does anyone know in depth which routes rae profitable for olympic airlines and which arent?

I believe that Aegean should have been serving by now routes that are very important and have little comtetition such as Paris, Istanbul, LHR, Moscow, Berlin, Zurich, brussels.

What do you guys think?

Also, does anyone knows if Aegean is planning to serve new destinations anytime soon?

I know that the NYC and London routes are very profitable for Olympic. I think Paris is also up there, as well as Thessaloníki obviously.

Personally, I always enjoyed travelling on Olympic, my only fustration is that from Toronto we stop off in Montreal for one hour instead of going direct to Athens. The planes are new and they have a great safety record, and I have always had good experience with the service. I don't believe in blaming unions for Olympic's financial difficulties. The problem is you have government officials running a business, so please don't blame the workers!!!! How many government officials take seats without paying for them? The problem with the Greek airline is you either have a socialist government trying to run it with no buisness experience, or a bunch of right-wingers who would sell their own kids to foreigners just to make a buck or two. I have no doubt Nea Democratia would love to ruin this airline so they get sell off the pieces to their international corporate 'friends'. Also with the new open sky policy, the big multinational corporations are now in a position to swallow up all the smaller airlines all over Europe. I am sure Onassis is spinning in his grave.

I am not really sure about what Onassis does right now. After all, he is the one who said that OA is a bucket full of s*** and at the right time he will get rid of it. As he did, actually.

Also, I agree about not blaming the workers but up to a point. If they have been half as gutsy in striking about the need for reasoned management instead of asking for pay raises, some of the evils of the last ten years might have been avoided. But they didn't do so in order to not displease their political patrons so in this sense they are responsible too for what is happening.

Also, I don't understand why do I have to be so compassionate about many -not all- of them at the moment that I have no steady job right now and I have NEVER enjoyed the type of security, benefits and remuneration they enjoyed. I know for a fact they don't give a flying f*** whether I live or die for that matter. And obviously I am not talking about the pilots or the cabin crews here but about some rodents that had a veeery long party with my money. I am their employer and I have been tolerant enough with my money spent out of the window and then having every minister trying to tax me more and more so that they can continue to act so disrespectfully.

People DO lose jobs if their company does not perform well, you know... Especially people from North America should know that. Pity, for Olympic was a good airline...

...when most of the visitors here probably weren't even born yet... :D

Olympic is not just another company in Greece, it is the national air carrier, whether you like it or not, it represents Greece internationally. That's why I always fly it, to support Greece. Letting it collapse is a bigger mistake than mismanaging the company. GM2263 you state, "I have NEVER enjoyed the type of security, benefits and remuneration they enjoyed. I know for a fact they don't give a flying f*** whether I live or die for that matter." Do you think if Olympic dissolves and foreigner owned airliners dominate Greece they will care about you anymore? Also if more companies in Greece offered that type of job security, more of its citizens would enjoy a better standard of living. Globalization is destroying national companies who no longer feel the obligation to create jobs at home. These multinationals want people to work for less and have the ability to import cheap goods from third world countries. It's not just Olympic but all small airliners that are being squeezed by big airliners who want to dominate the market by being able to fly and land anywhere. If the consumer wins with lower prices they loose by having foreign ownership and having good paying jobs with benefits outsourced to other nations. Olympic is in a critical state, but dissolving it would do much more harm to the Greek economy. This current Greek government is having a fire sale on anything the state owns and one day everyone in Greece will wake up to airliners and national ports owned and controlled by foreigners. I can't believe this government is stupid enough to sell the ports of Greece, one of the main gateways to Europe!!!! The country doesn't need foreign ownership, what it needs is good management and a control system put in place to prosecute political corruption in state enterprises.

SoS, it's all very well to be patriotic and such, even tho that's a bit out-dated in this global day and age, but the basic facts are that if a business can not make a profit, or even worse, continually makes a loss, then it can't and mustn't stay in business. That's the brutal, fundamental principles of business and the world we live in. Olympic hasn't some God given divine right to coninue operating, especially since the service leaves much to be desired and it costs the Greek tax-payer so much money to keep it afloat. It doesn't make sense for it to continue this way and if it doesn't give itself a 'soft landing', it's going to be in for a mighty and abrupt 'free-fall'. Other countries, such as Belguim have had to do away with their national carriers for the same reason, Greece has to abandon this jingoist it's our 'national carrier' mentality, and the fear of 'foreign ownership', which is a bit rich considering Greece's investments and ownership of businesses in other countries. Would you like other countries to not allow Greeks to own businesses in their markets? For starters that's against EU principles of an open market and furthermore, foreign ownership could bring much needed good management and professionalism, so often lacking in Greek enterprises today, especially in the much maligned public sector!!

Oh shut up you troll. Nobody cares what you have to say, pretender.

I am in agreement that Olympic must change direction to stay in business. I however do not buy into the argument that Greece should not have a national carrier. Here in Canada we lost one large carrier known as Canadian Pacific it later became Canadian and later on became non-existent. Similar to the arguments in Greece, it was mismanaged, it lost money etc... So now Canada is left with Air Canada as the only truly large airline company in the country. With the open skies agreement, who knows how it will continue? We are 32 million in Canada verses 300 million in the US. The Canadian government has gone in several times over the years to financially assist the airline.

But this is my problem with all the free market types; they keep saying how wonderful competition is for everyone, how good free trade is, how bad state businesses are, and how 'global' the world is becoming. So what happens, at the beginning of switching to a more free market, well prices come down, but once state enterprises disappear and foreign multinationals dominate your market then what? How good can that possibly be for the citizens of a country? If airlines, the energy sector, communications and education can be opened up, what's next your military and government? IMO multinationals dominating key industries of the country doesn't benefit the little guy, not the consumer and not the nation. Globalization is sold worldwide in part by making your (neorion) arguments providing 'much needed good management and professionalism' but once your nation starts loosing middle and upper scale jobs to foreigners its game over, you are no longer a country but a dominion to one of the super powers.

Of course Britain and the USA favour open skies just like free markets, but that's only so they could get into small markets and dominate them. Has globalization brought wealth to poor nations? Of course not. If small countries try to sell cheaper agricultural products to the USA, then the American government calls it dumping and imposes restrictions, example Canadian lumber sold in the US. In other words the Brits and Americans only want free trade when it benefits them. The global media picks up the news stories of Olympic Airlines being in trouble to reinforce and prepare the public for its dismantling. Who dominates the global media? The same corporate types telling us Olympic is mismanaged, the open skies agreement is good, and that Greece should sell its national carrier. The Greek government and more importantly the citizens of Greece should be cautious and not sell off a business that can potentially make the nation both proud and turn a profit.

^^ Yes, but the point is, that it's not turning a profit, and not making the nation proud, on the contrary. With all due respect, if the Greek maritime fleet, the world's biggest, were to adopt your views; anti-globalisation, protectionism etc...well quite frankly they'd be farked and not the world leaders that they are. Anyway, I really don't see any 'glory' in having a national carrier, especially one that doesn't represent the nation in the 'best light'. A nation should pursue its economic strengths and not certain unprofitable businesses for the misguided sake of national pride. Sounds like old-time nationalism to me!!

I'll take old-time nationalism any day of the week over modern day globalization that promotes foreign controlled ports and airlines. As I stated before I agree Olympic is mismanaged, but that doesn't mean we should sell the business. Also I am not suggesting there should be no foreign competition, I simply believe the big multinational corporations shouldn't get total control of key state industries like Olympic or the ports.

In regards to the Greek maritime to the best of my knowledge they don't own an other country's fleet, they merely trade throughout the world.

BTW, as we have been exchanging our opinions I have to say great Avatar, that red arm chair looks very much like a Bauhaus inspired design.

Firstly, as my family continue to pay tax in Hellas I don't mind some of our tax $ going towards propping up OA.....in the short term anyway.

Secondly, while the Greek government is busy trying to shut down OA, in Italy
Berlusconi has promised to take EU Commission head on to ensure that the Alitalia continues to fly over Italian skys......despite similar calls for Alitalia to be closed.

OA can be saved, but the Government cannot afford to take on the EU Commission, local unions and other groups with vested interests at this stage.

The point is:

IF we were talking about another company with a good business record and proof that its management has done anything in good faith (what is called "fiduciary duties of directors" in the UK legal terminology) to prevent the current situation I too would be sympathetic. OA has the best possible trademark a Greek company could have. It has a close to perfect security record and the flying crews are top-notch.

However, the company as an entity and despite the isolated efforts of some few good men, seems to be lacking what we call "social responsibility" in the sense of serving the public. Neither its employees instead of protecting their prerogatives tried to draw the public's attention to the nepotist and party-political exploitation of OA. On the contrary, they shut their mouths because they didn't want to raise against their patrons. Now the time has come for everyone to stand up and assume its responsibilities.

I would like OA to fly. Like I said, its trademark is unbeatable. However, the wrongdoings of EVERYONE involved either actively or by their silence are so loud (what a semantic contradiction) that I doubt that there is left anything healthy to save, except from some honest bread-winners who continued to stand up for their values and beliefs in a much negative environment.

Unfortunately, the company has to see so many dramatic changes and so many prerogatives are to be lost that it won't be the same anymore, it cannot remain as is.

I wish many people employed in the private sector had half the chances OA employees have enjoyed in the past. The fact though that they refused to act in a socially responsible manner (strikes, strikes, strikes...) and assume any notion of social accountability has its price. As for a logo and "national" carrier, Aegean airlines is doing quite well isn't it?

Sorry if I disagree on that but in Greece as anywhere else in the civilized world, we must learn to respect public money or else, let the axe fall. I wish I could feel differently but I don't.

...and I hate arguing with fallow forumers here and SoS forgive my acute style, it is not directed towards you or any other participant here. I fully respect you but had you been living in Greece you would have understood what I am talking about. No offense though, I respect your opinion as I do for everybody else's here.

No need to apologize for your stand gm2263. It's only through these forums we can all learn more and listen to others opinions. Besides your right I don't live in Greece, so obviously I cannot be as familiar as you are with all the internal details of OA, or the view that the general Greek public has on this matter, I can only tell you my experience and the diaspora's view from my perspective in Canada.

And respectable your opinion is as my best friend in Athens is a Torontonian girl married to an excellent man so at least I know the principles most of the Greek Canadians grow up with.

Unfortunately, while Greeks in Canada are in most cases an honor to their country and themselves, Greeks in Greece try to infringe on the merits attached to the identity of being a Greek without paying their dues in hard work and respect to their country. And this is what makes me angry.

True, many aspects of the so-called "globalization" ARE indeed a laughing matter as they try to level off 6000 years of written history overnight. On the other hand though, it is thanks to globalization that we may get a chance as a species to solve many of our big problems by sharing knowledge and a common understanding to things. Unfortunately, many OA employees did not share this view and have forgotten the importance of a visitor and the word "philoxenia" along with the sacred connotations it entails.

Even if OA remains, it means that it has to be "sanitized" and cleaned off the sources of this anomaly which is an attractor to high debts, inefficient services and management.

Now if you asked me, deep inside me I know that it is the governments of the last 34 years that poured first blood since it is through them that this aura of sickness started to abound. However, from a point onwards, there has really been a collusion between the political parties and the syndicate leaders and OA was used as a welfare service towards voters instead of an airline that was supposed to proudly carry the national colors to the five continents.

The solution may be painful but has to be applied. Otherwise, the foreign investors WILL eventually buy its slots, equipment, planes etc as scrap metal after liquidation and throw away ALL the employees or recruit them anew on a "zero basis", and all that without any sense of social responsibility. At least now the government tries to sell it BEFORE the seemingly imminent liquidation to capitalize on whatever added value and goodwill it still has and eventually save more jobs compared to the bleak scenarios, since, one way or another to sack people from their jobs also entails a HUGE social responsibility. All that could have been avoided had the Greek state proceeded to the right thing in the right time in which case downsizing might have NOT involved layoffs.

Too sad and too bad though, I flew in and out of the US several times with OA and I was lucky to be in their "good days". Their timing and service was good... back then.

Τον Απρίλιο η νέα Ολυμπιακή

Ικανοποίηση προκαλεί στην Αθήνα η πληροφορία ότι το Κολλέγιο των Επιτρόπων της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης αναμένεται να εγκρίνει την Τετάρτη το σχέδιο εξυγίανσης της Ολυμπιακής. Σύμφωνα με την πρόταση που έχει υποβάλει το Υπουργείο Μεταφορών και Επικοινωνιών, η εταιρεία "Πάνθεον" θα απορροφήσει σταδιακά το πτητικό έργο των ολυμπιακών αερογραμμών, καθώς και το όνομα και το σήμα. Στη συνέχεια θα δημιουργηθεί μια νέα Ολυμπιακή με το ίδιο όνομα και σήμα μικρότερη από τη σημερινή. Ο Κωστής Χατζηδάκης επανέλαβε ότι διασφαλίζονται οι άγονες γραμμές και οι θέσεις των εργαζομένων, οι οποίοι αντιδρούν έντονα στα σχεδία και τις ιδιωτικοποιήσεις της εταιρείας.

Διασφαλίζονται οι εργαζόμενοι

Τον Απρίλιο του 2009 ανοίγει φτερά η νέα Oλυμπιακή Aεροπορία υπό την σκεπή ιδιώτη επενδύτη και απαλλαγμένη από κάθε χρέος.

Η νέα εταιρεία θα είναι σε μέγεθος στα 2/ 3 της σημερινής, θα διατηρήσει το ίδιο όνομα και σήμα, θα πραγματοποιεί όλα τα δρομολόγια αγόνων γραμμών, τα περισσότερα από τα δρομολόγια εσωτερικού και τα βασικά δρομολόγια του εξωτερικού.

Ο υπουργός Μεταφορών και Επικοινωνιών, Κωστής Χατζηδάκης, αναφερόμενος στην επικείμενη απόφαση του Κολλεγίου των επιτρόπων σημείωσε, ότι η Ολυμπιακή είναι η πιο ζημιογόνα εταιρεία στην Ευρώπη σε σχέση με το μέγεθος της και η μόνη σε ολόκληρη της Ευρώπη που παραμένει 100% υπό κρατική ιδιοκτησία.

Στόχος της κυβέρνησης είναι η δημιουργία μιας νέας εταιρίας που θα κρατάει το όνομα και το σήμα της σημερινής, απαλλάσσοντας παράλληλα τους φορολογούμενους από τα χρέη, τόνισε, ενώ επανέλαβε ότι οι εργαζόμενοι "δεν έχουν κανένα λόγο να ανησυχούν, γιατί η κυβέρνηση θα συμπεριφερθεί με λογική και ευαισθησία".

Οι 5000 μόνιμοι εργαζόμενοι στην Ολυμπιακή θα έχουν τρεις επιλογές

- εθελουσίας εξόδου όσοι έχουν άνω των 6000 ενσήμων, ( διασφαλίζοντας μπόνους και πλήρη συνταξιοδοτικά δικαιώματα)
-μετάταξη σε άλλη υπηρεσία του δημοσίου με τις ίδιες αποδοχές,
-πρόσληψη στη νέα εταιρεία με συμβάσεις που θα υπογραφούν από μηδενική βάση.

Παράλληλα για τους τρεις χιλιάδες συμβασιούχους εργαζόμενους προβλέπεται μοριοδοτηση.

Ο ιδιώτης επενδυτής παραλαμβάνει τη νέα Ολυμπιακή με μηδενικό αριθμό εργαζομένων και αποφασίζει αυτός πόσους και ποιους θα προσλάβει.

Η επίσημη ανακοίνωση της Κομισιόν αναμένεται αύριο το μεσημέρι και αμέσως μετά ο ο κ. Χατζηδάκης, σε συνέντευξη Τύπου, θα ανακοινώσει σε ποια λύση έχει οδηγηθεί η Κυβέρνηση.

Νωρίτερα ο ζήτημα της Ολυμπιακής θα βρεθεί και στο επίκεντρο της Κυβερνητικής Επιτροπής η οποία θα συνεδριάσει στις 11.00 για θέματα που αφορούν το Υπουργείο Μεταφορών και Επικοινωνιών.

Το αναμενόμενο πράσινο φως από την Κομισιόν για την ιδιωτικοποίηση της Ολυμπιακής άνοιξε τον ασκό του Αιόλου για τους εργαζόμενους . Οι τεχνικοί πραγματοποίησαν πορεία στην πίστα αεροδρόμιου "Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος".

Αύριο Τρίτη η ομοσπονδία συλλόγων πολιτικής αεροπορίας πραγματοποιεί έκτακτο συνέδριο προκείμενου να αποφασιστούν οι περαιτέρω αντιδράσεις, στις οποίες όμως δε περιλαμβάνονται απεργιακές κινητοποιήσεις.

Πολιτικές αντιδράσεις

Την ίδια ώρα έντονες είναι οι αντιδράσεις των κομμάτων για τη λύση που προωθεί η κυβέρνηση για την εξυγίανση της Ολυμπιακής.

"Ο νεοφιλελεύθερος κατήφορος της Ν.Δ. αφαιρεί από τη χώρα κάθε δυνατότητα να ρυθμίζει αυτόνομα και αναπτυξιακά για στρατηγικές πολιτικές στις επικοινωνίες και τις μεταφορές. Πρόκειται για μια ιδιαίτερα σκληρή και επικίνδυνη πολιτική που δοκιμάσθηκε και απέτυχε οικτρά σε κάθε χώρα που εφαρμόσθηκε" τόνισε ο Συνασπισμός.

Its been approved by the EU commission.
But they still need to pay back the 850 million euros to the Greek government.

well thats great news!!!
something hellenic that will stay and not dissappear for hopefully ever!
like i said in the past though im not satisfied with olympic airways service but im happy that hasn't closed or bankrupt or maybe shut down or whatever want to say like other airline(s) for example XL Airways,Alitalia

Aegean Airlines has won the ERA(European Regions Airline Association) Airline of the Year award for 2008/2009.

They have actually continually been getting awards.
2000/1, 2004/5, 2005/6, 2006/7.

http://www.eraa.org/intranet/documents/128/3371/ERA2008_Airline_Winners.jpg
http://www.eraa.org/inside-era/awardshonours/awards/airlineoftheyear.php

Olympics A340 planes are 9 years old and going in their 10th year. Just so you have an idea. They got them late 1999. The front cabin premium seats are so spacious.





Olympic is not just another company in Greece, it is the national air carrier, whether you like it or not, it represents Greece internationally. That's why I always fly it, to support Greece. Letting it collapse is a bigger mistake than mismanaging the company. GM2263 you state, "I have NEVER enjoyed the type of security, benefits and remuneration they enjoyed. I know for a fact they don't give a flying f*** whether I live or die for that matter." Do you think if Olympic dissolves and foreigner owned airliners dominate Greece they will care about you anymore? Also if more companies in Greece offered that type of job security, more of its citizens would enjoy a better standard of living. Globalization is destroying national companies who no longer feel the obligation to create jobs at home. These multinationals want people to work for less and have the ability to import cheap goods from third world countries. It's not just Olympic but all small airliners that are being squeezed by big airliners who want to dominate the market by being able to fly and land anywhere. If the consumer wins with lower prices they loose by having foreign ownership and having good paying jobs with benefits outsourced to other nations. Olympic is in a critical state, but dissolving it would do much more harm to the Greek economy. This current Greek government is having a fire sale on anything the state owns and one day everyone in Greece will wake up to airliners and national ports owned and controlled by foreigners. I can't believe this government is stupid enough to sell the ports of Greece, one of the main gateways to Europe!!!! The country doesn't need foreign ownership, what it needs is good management and a control system put in place to prosecute political corruption in state enterprises.

Olympics A340 planes are 9 years old and going in their 10th year. Just so you have an idea. They got them late 1999. The front cabin premium seats are so spacious.

Which is still relatively young in terms of airplane years. Usually airplanes are retired when they reach 15-20 years. Sometimes longer. The B747's were around 20 years old when they were retired for the A340's.

On another note, Qatar Airways has expressed interest to buy a stake in the "New Olympic". Greece wants to sell the new Olympic by the end of the year.

FROM: http://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNews/idUSTRE49P33R20081026


Qatar Airways interested in Olympic: Greece
Sun Oct 26, 2008 5:04pm EDT

ATHENS (Reuters) - Qatar Airways has expressed an interest in taking part in the privatization of Greece's state-owned Olympic Airlines OLY.UL, Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said on Sunday.

Greece's conservative government launched a tender last month to split the loss-making airline into three parts and sell them off. Investors must submit an expression of interest by the end of October.

"I am in a position to say that Qatar Airways is on the list of prospective investors that have expressed interest in Olympic," Karamanlis told Greek TV station Mega during a visit to Qatar, where he met with Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

Karamanlis did not mention any other possible bidders.

Greece's government has said it aims to conclude the tender by the end of 2008, ending years of failed attempts to privatize Olympic.

The plan has been approved by the European Commission, which agreed to suspend action over illegal state subsidies if the sale went ahead.

Olympic Airlines carried 6.2 million passengers in 2007 to 36 cities and islands in Greece and 37 destinations in Europe, Asia, North America and Africa. It has losses of over 1 million euros a day.

The decision to privatize the airline has sparked a series of protests from public sector unions already angry at the ruling New Democracy party's tax increases and wage reforms.

(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Daniel Flynn; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)


and FROM: http://news.ert.gr/en/greece/politics/14739-symfonies-gia-anaptyksi-oikonomikis-synergasias-ellados-katar.htm


Prime Minister Karamanlis in Qatar
27 Oct 2008

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis is on a two-day official visit to Qatar, where he is to hold talks with the nation's leaders and the Greeks living there. Earlier on Sunday, Karamanlis addressed the Greek-Arab forum in Doha. The Prime Minister referred on the bilateral financial relations between Greece-Qatar during his talks with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and prime minister and foreign affairs minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabir Al Thani. In statements after the meeting, at the beginning of his visit to Qatar, Karamanlis referred to the present international conjuncture in which the global economies were facing the heavy repercussions of the international credit crisis, which was proving to be of unpredictable intensity and duration. He added that the governments have the duty to invest in strategic planning, which could shore up the national economies against the dangers and to release their developmental potential after the crisis.

The Greek government, he continued, has set out two chief targets: to fortify the households and businesses against the impact of the continuing crisis through a series of effective measures, and to accelerate the implementation of any reforms necessary for the structural reformation of the national economy, while at the same time enhancing cooperation with the country's international partners.

The Prime Minister referred on the bilateral financial relations between Greece-Qatar, Karamanlis particularly noted the "very encouraging" prospects opening up. A broad spectrum of prospects were examined during the meeting, with emphasis on investments in the sectors of energy, transports, shipping and construction. Qatar, Karamanlis continued, was a country of geostrategic significance in the region and with a dynamic economic growth, adding that the presence there of major Greek construction companies was proof of the common efforts in that sector.

To a question on the ailing national carrier Olympic Airways (OA), Karamanlis said investments were discussed in many sectors, adding that Qatar Airways was among the hopeful investors in OA, while the Qatari prime minister simply said that the matter had been touched on during their meeting.

Later, foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis and her Qatari counterpart signed a dual taxation avoidance agreement, while deputy foreign minister Petros Doukas signed a cooperation agreement in health and medical sciences.
In the morning, Karamanlis inaugurated a meeting of the Greek-Qatari Business Forum.

In a brief greeting, Karamanlis said that his visit to Qatar underlined the importance placed by Greece on further strengthening of their bilateral relations, and aspired to greater development of economic cooperation.

He noted that Qatar was among the countries with the largest economic growth and high per capital income, whereas Greece was the steam engine of the economy of Southeast Europe.
In a reference to the international financial crisis, Karamanlis stressed that the governments must not look on passively, but rather encourage investments and advance growth. He noted that his visit to Qatar served that purpose, by enhancing the investment prospects of both countries.

He further said that the Greek government has taken all the measures necessary to face the crisis, and was closely monitoring the situation in order to react immediately if necessary.

Source: Athens News Agency

Qatar Airways? Interesting.
It is one of the few, I think four or five airlines, which has a five star rating.

Qatar Airways? Interesting.
It is one of the few, I think four or five airlines, which has a five star rating.

Correct. And although I was against the idea of them buying Olympic at first (I would rather prefer someone like Air France or Lufthansa, but they don't appear interested), I have warmed up to it now. They have the management to turn OA around, not to mention the money to pump into OA and also order new planes and such.

I would prefer it stays majority Greek owned.
Foreign investment should be welcomed and encouraged, but not to the point were full control of the national airline is in foreign hands.

I would prefer it stays majority Greek owned.
Foreign investment should be welcomed and encouraged, but not to the point were full control of the national airline is in foreign hands.

Well the plan for the "New Olympic" still includes ownership by the Greece I believe. So whatever airline/company decides to buy a stake in the new OA, will not have full control.

*
*
Dear friends: the "national" airline is bankrupt. I would prefer if the hundreds of millions euros spent every year to support this giant turkey are spent on education, health, R&D, or any other type of social program that benefits the entire country, and not just the few thousand privileged Olympic employees.

In regards to the owneship issue: it makes no difference if majority control is in foreign or Greek hands. If Greeks truly love their airline they can vote with their money by buying the company's stock. ( I would rather have my teeth extracted without anesthetic :bash:)


*
Here is an article from last weeks BHMA that made my blood boil.


Ωραίοι, νέοι και πλούσιοι οι συνταξιούχοι της ΟΑ
* 1,3 δισ. ευρώ το κόστος του κρατικού προϋπολογισμού. Τι προβλέπει η ρύθμιση που κατέθεσε στη Βουλή το υπουργείο Μεταφορών. Την ερχόμενη εβδομάδα το τελευταίο στάδιο της λύσης για την εταιρεία. Αναμένεται το ενδιαφέρον υποψηφίων επενδυτών

http://tovima.dolnet.gr/print_article.php?e=B&f=15490&m=D21&aa=1

*

*
*
Dear friends: the "national" airline is bankrupt. I would prefer if the hundreds of millions euros spent every year to support this giant turkey are spent on education, health, R&D, or any other type of social program that benefits the entire country, and not just the few thousand privileged Olympic employees.
*

Which is exactly why the current OA is being shut down, with a new smaller OA being created that will be owned PRIVATELY. The Greek tax payer will not suffer anymore. No matter how many strikes and protests happen, this will go through. The EU has approved the plan, Pantheon has set up offices, and Greece plans to close tenders for the new OA in the coming weeks, with it being sold by the end of the year.

Flew with Qatar to Greece in July. It was a good ride, great food.

Yes my parents went to Greece earlire in the year too with Qatar from Singapore.
They liked it better then Singapore Airlines which they flew Adelaide-Singapore.

EVENTUALLY IT LOOKS LIKE THINGS ARE PROGRESSIVE FAST AND OLYMPIC AIR WILL BE SOLD SOON.HOWEVER WHEN I HEAR THE AMOUNT OF MONEY ITS GONNA COST TO THE TAX PAYERS FOR THE COMPENSATIONS OF THE STAFF AND WHEN I SEE THEYR UNIONS APROACHMENT TOWARDS THE PROBLEM A LITTLE DEVIL INSIDE ME SAIS <<LET THE UNIONS BUY THE COMPANY IF THEY REALLY LOVE HER SO MUCH OTHERWISE SHUT IT DOWN>>..90% OF OLYMPICS STAFF GOT THEYR JOB NOT BECAUSE THEY HAD THE RIGHT QUALIFICATIONS BUT BECAUSE THEY WERE WAVING FLAGS OF PASOK & NEA DHMOKRATIA(KOMATOSKILA) OR THEY HAD A COUSIN IN THE PARLIAMENT..THEY NEVER REALLY WORKED AS HARD AS OTHER PEOPLE DO,AND THEY WERE GETTING PAYED LIKE KINGS COMPARE TO MOST OF US.NOW WE HAVE TO COMPENSATE THEM AGAIN WITH 1,3 BILLION EUROS.... WHAT ABOUT SOCIAL JUSTICE?
AS A GREEK PERSON I HAVE ENOUGH REASONS TO BE PROUD,OLYMPIC AIRWAYS TO ME MEANS NOTHING.I DONT NEED HER FLYING INTO THE SKYES TO LIFT MY PRIDE.... I THINK WE VE PAID ENOUGH
ANYWAY, KATARA AIRWAYS TURNING TO QUATAR AIRWAYS IS A PROGRESS......

And today, Olympic unions staged yet another 24 strike against the privatization, forcing over 100 flight cancellations. If that weren't bad enough, workers actually WALKED OUT onto the ACTIVE runway and blocked all flights. This is not the first time they have done this either. Ridiculous....

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSLU28813120081030

And the worse thing is, this is not only Olympic Workers. Just 2 weeks ago (I think) there was a general strike (all media, banks, buses, trains, ect.) supporting the unions and against the privatization of Olympic. This is becoming a joke. But like I said, this will go through. I think tomorrow is the deadline for companies to submit bids.

Well they do have a right to do that, of course blocking the airports runway is indeed ridiculous, and btw the general strike that you mention wasn't for Olympic in any case.

Well they do have a right to do that, of course blocking the airports runway is indeed ridiculous, and btw the general strike that you mention wasn't for Olympic in any case.

Its against the law in many countries to go out onto a runway, employee or not. Regarding the general strike, I though I had read that it was one of the reasons, but not wholly (wholly was the government). I guess I was wrong. :nuts:

Those people protesting on the runways should be arrested and charged.
What they were doing was endangering countless lives.
What would have happened if a pilot did not get the message from air traffic controllers because of a failure in communication equipment or something? There consequences of their stupid actions would have been catastrophic.

Would you go stand in the middle of a freeway to protest?

Guys Greece is a shameful mess. To all of you know think that any group of people have the right to do whatever they want is WRONG. If I MUST leave (for any personal reason, let's say a family memeber died) from athens airport to catch a connection somewhere esle, and some corrupt lazy people that call themselves "workers" don't respect my personal rights, why should we respect them? Just because they form a union and they are a political issue between two political parties???

I've been here in Greece for 1.5 months and I've been through AT LEAST 5 labour strikes. Some people last week decided to sit on the road in front of the parliament. Metro, tram, buses, all means of public transport got closed. Traffic completely collapsed. Now lets say that I had an accident and I need to get rushed to a hospital. Should I die because the ambulance couldnt get on time because roads were closed?

My point is that everybody has the right to protest, but when doing so, you should respects my rights too! Why do millions of people suffer when a small group of people decide to go on a strike? Is that fair to everyone? Would you like me to have a strike and close the entrance/exit to your house so you can't move just because I have the right to do so?

ALL these scum bags should get arrested for doing what they did. There should be a court that decides when a strike is legal and when it's not, and if it isn't, workers should get paid por the days they go on strike.

By the way, why did the metro workers go on strike yesterday? Were they really demanding something serious or were they just tired from they long weekend???

I am disgusted with this country because I come here to work and seems that NO ONE respects other people's rights. For instance, it took me 2 hours to get to the center yesterday and I wasnt able to do what I had to do. Just ebcause the metro workers didn't want to work and I wasn't aware of that.

Then, WHERE ARE MY RIGHTS???

Guys Greece is a shameful mess. To all of you know think that any group of people have the right to do whatever they want is WRONG. If I MUST leave (for any personal reason, let's say a family memeber died) from athens airport to catch a connection somewhere esle, and some corrupt lazy people that call themselves "workers" don't respect my personal rights, why should we respect them? Just because they form a union and they are a political issue between two political parties???

I've been here in Greece for 1.5 months and I've been through AT LEAST 5 labour strikes. Some people last week decided to sit on the road in front of the parliament. Metro, tram, buses, all means of public transport got closed. Traffic completely collapsed. Now lets say that I had an accident and I need to get rushed to a hospital. Should I die because the ambulance couldnt get on time because roads were closed?

My point is that everybody has the right to protest, but when doing so, you should respects my rights too! Why do millions of people suffer when a small group of people decide to go on a strike? Is that fair to everyone? Would you like me to have a strike and close the entrance/exit to your house so you can't move just because I have the right to do so?

ALL these scum bags should get arrested for doing what they did. There should be a court that decides when a strike is legal and when it's not, and if it isn't, workers should get paid por the days they go on strike.

By the way, why did the metro workers go on strike yesterday? Were they really demanding something serious or were they just tired from they long weekend???

I am disgusted with this country because I come here to work and seems that NO ONE respects other people's rights. For instance, it took me 2 hours to get to the center yesterday and I wasnt able to do what I had to do. Just ebcause the metro workers didn't want to work and I wasn't aware of that.

Then, WHERE ARE MY RIGHTS??? NMK I AGREE WITH YOU IN EVERYTHING YOU SAID BUT IF YOU REALLY ARE DISGUSTED WITH GREECE AND YOU THING THAT IS A SHAMEFULL MESS I DONT THINK YOU SHOULD BOTHER COME OVER HERE AGAIN AND YOU SHOULD BETTER STOP POSTING HERE AS WELL.....
PERSONALLY THE REASON I COMPLAIN ABOUT ALL THINGS THAT ARE WRONG IN MY COUNTRY IS BECAUSE I LOVE HER AND I WANT HER TO IMPROVE,I DONT THINK YOUR POST HAS THE SAME AIM,YOU JUST SEEM TO HATE THIS COUNTRY.
BY THE WAY WERE DO YOU COME FROM?
IF YOU COME FROM SWEDEN OR SWITZERLAND I DONT BLAME YOU FOR THINKING THAT GREECE IS A SHAMEFULL MESS BUT I BET YOU COME FROM A COUNTRY THAT ALSO HAS MANY PROBLEMS AND I THINK YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON THEM...

NMK I AGREE WITH YOU IN EVERYTHING YOU SAID BUT IF YOU REALLY ARE DISGUSTED WITH GREECE AND YOU THING THAT IS A SHAMEFULL MESS I DONT THINK YOU SHOULD BOTHER COME OVER HERE AGAIN AND YOU SHOULD BETTER STOP POSTING HERE AS WELL.....
PERSONALLY THE REASON I COMPLAIN ABOUT ALL THINGS THAT ARE WRONG IN MY COUNTRY IS BECAUSE I LOVE HER AND I WANT HER TO IMPROVE,I DONT THINK YOUR POST HAS THE SAME AIM,YOU JUST SEEM TO HATE THIS COUNTRY.
BY THE WAY WERE DO YOU COME FROM?
IF YOU COME FROM SWEDEN OR SWITZERLAND I DONT BLAME YOU FOR THINKING THAT GREECE IS A SHAMEFULL MESS BUT I BET YOU COME FROM A COUNTRY THAT ALSO HAS MANY PROBLEMS AND I THINK YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON THEM...

Let me please add here that I've seen "shameful" strikes hitting the Paris airport and people having to drag their luggage by hand for at least one kilometer because the metro and trains were ALSO having a strike that same period (5 years ago) and people resorted to arriving at the airport by car or taxi. Because of the lines, the passangers had to walk all the way to the terminal since the taxi or car could not get close enough to the terminals due to the lines. Or what about university and Public Services strikes in Italy, belgium and France?

I absolutely hate those Greek civil workers (and their mentality) who sometimes make our lives difficult. It doesn't happen all the time...only in certain periods such as this, which is politically charged (between the country's two main parties). So our friend form abroad has come in a bad time in Greece.

Apparently our friend here who has had the honor of coming to our nice country, preffers to turn a blind eye on similar events elsewhere in the European Union and focus on Greece, out of all the EU countries that also have similar problems often (France, Italy that are particularly strike-prone countries...more so on an annual basis than Greece, etc) or other EU countries that are going bakrupt (Hungary) probably because his pitiful country borders Greece and sees in Greece (despite all its problems) the image of a country he wishes his own country were but it is NOT
Dare I call it: INFERIORITY COMPLEX?

:lol:

this MK part of his nickanme reminds of of the english word "Muck" that means "filth". Could his country's name be "Muckadonija" Like Filth-odonija?

I would also like to add that if the NMK is indeed from Filthodonija, I HAVE SERIOUS DOUBTS HE HAS BEEN IN GREECE AT AL. Since lately Filthodonija's press, like MuckFvcks (Makfax, as they call it) keeps on following whatever is happening in the domestic arena of Greece and while knowing how inferior they are in comparison to Greece in every sector, be it social economic, financial, industrial and above all HISTORICAL, they try to find some domestic problems that are happening here and there in Greece in order to portaray to their furstrated people a negative image of Greece and thus create the illusion that Filthodonija and Greece are on "the same level" and therefore, they (hopefully) stand a chance of being accepted into NATO and the EU the way they wish. Dream on!!! I'd say to him.

So, it seems that our "visitor" has probably not been in Greece but simply read about the strike on MuckFvcks or whatever and devised out of his mind this supposedy business presence of his in Athens and that he was "appalled" and blah blah blah...in order to insult us for the frustration he is feeling that he comes from a history-less, culture-less impoverished and culturally unimportant, landlocked chunk of land that neither any Ottoman nor any pre-1944 Yugoslav records mention "his people".

I live far away from the Athens center where I work and even when there are strikes it DOESNT TAKE ME "TWO HOURS" TO ARRIVE TO WORK. He probably MIScalculated that it must take "2 hours" to get to the Athens center.

Of course I awalys give a chance to the possibility that he is not a Filthodonijan but form another country. However, if he is a Filthodonijan, then the above that I wrote are for sure the case

PS: Note how NMK2600 indicates not location (city/country) etc...
This is a subsconscious reflex from deep in his head where deep inside he knows that neither he nor his people exist

The GDP/capita in various countries and Greece, as well as of some countries neighboring Greece, according to the World Bank for the years 2007

Greece 33,074

Germany 33,154

France 33,414

Italy 29,934

Bulgaria 11,298

FYROM 8,543

Albania 6,385

Turkey 12,481

so, if our "visitor" doesn't come from the Balkans, and were to come from even France, Germany or Italy, the comparisons are there. If we are still a little too "Balkan" in our mentality, we "apologize" to him for the incovenience and we remind him that it is better to be a Balkan country with more than 33,000 USD GDP/capita than with 8,500


:-))))))

:ohno:

please, everyone notice the Filthodonijan's language and see what is hidding behind it:

Filthodonijan: "WHERE ARE MY RIGHTS???"

meaning: I have the "right" to be called and named (me and my country) as we wish.

Answer: Yeah, right, dude. So, I can come tomorrow and claim I am a Sicilian and Greece should be called "Republic of Sicily"

Filthodonijan: "Greece is a shameful mess"

meaning: Subconsicously he knows his country is a shameless mess (literally) and with an uncertain future (since it never had a genuine past to begin with). The fact that he is calling Greece so is simply because he is projecting his shame about his "nothing-country" onto Greece because he cannot bear the reality, which is none other that his country is a mess. So, it is easier (for his peace of mind) to imagine other countries as a "mess"

Filthodonijan: "I am disgusted with this country (Greece)"

Again:
1) he is projecting his disgust about his country on Greece because it is unbearable for his peace of mind to stand that Muckadonija or Filthodonija was the most backwards and retarded region and the disgusting "backwater" of a larger former country that doesnt exist
and
2) he is disgusted because Greece and her history is there to remind him that he is living an illusion about his identity, which is fake and also the result of propaganda and brainwashing. Since the poor kid was braiwnashed from the day he was born and was told to believe that he is something else instead of what he is in reality, the frustration, and above all, the mental SHOCK of having to accept reality (that he is not what he thinks he is) gives birth to anger towards the reminder (Greece)...hence he is "disgusted" with our country.

The dude is psycho and needs therapy. In fact all his people need therapy. AND THEY'LL GET IT WITH AMAJOR SHOCK ONE DAY. Then he may be using a better language. His country doesn't border Canada and the US but Greece and it can only survive if the EU and Greece give them the "green light"

NALS YOU SOUND VERY PISSED OFF.....
IDONT BLAME YOU BUT I THINK THERES NO NEED FOR ALL THAT

Im sorry guys but just for portraying my point of view about my country makes me "psycho, inferior, etc"??
I guess all your answers when someone makes a valid point is to say that they are terrorists from abroad that want to disgrace the image of greece.. HAHA. You guys should be a little more conscious instead of shutting down any complaint that you might not like. IS GREECE A MESS??? Ask 11.000.0000 who are currently living here (including myself) and you'll surely get a positive answer.

To those who can use their brain to come up with a real argument, but rather prefer to say that I'm not greek, and that I have probably never been here: I've been here EVERY year for the last 10 years, at least once per year. I'm a greek from abroad but still 100% greek.

So now I can't point out the mess that is greece?? Why would I leave if this is my country?? PLEASE next time come up with a smart answer.

And im sorry, but I've been to almost every coutry in western europe and what you see here you dont see ANYWHERE else.

Want to campare with france??? Sure, they do strikes as well, but then, compare Paris and Athens then. Lets then compare their industries and infrastructure, universities, hospitals, etc with ours. I'm sure they park their cars in every sidewalk like we do here!!!

ANyone of you been to germany, or switzerland, austria, spain, sweden, denmark, finland, norway, netherlands, belgium, luxemburg, UK, ireland?? why not compare ourselves with those countries and we compare ourselves with countries that spent almost 50 years in communism like HUNGARY??? BECAUSE you are all pitty, and that's why our country is in this mess, because of the same mentality you all have..

The day one of you (god forbids) gets hit by a but and you cant make it to the hospital because some people decided to close a road, or just because the ambulance couldnt make it on time because probably there wasnt any available, or one guy just stepped over "one minute" to go to the bank and created a whole traffic mess, your mentality will change, but lets not hope it ever happens.

Filthodonijan: "WHERE ARE MY RIGHTS"

HAHAHA how inferior you are that you could only come up with that as an excuse.

My friend, im more GREEK than any of you, and just like you have rights, my greek passport says I DO TO, and the same as you do by the way even if that hurts you or not.

SO please try to change your mentality because you are hurting your and my country.

I may have said something wrong and I TRULY apologize. Greece doesn't disgust me. Some greek people does.. The ones that wouldnt get up in the metro to give the chair to an old lady like i did yesterday in the tram..

Sadly, the majority of you....

By the way nals.. the my last name ends in poulos and the second in idis.. so you tell me what the MK stands for..

As for your response, I realize you hate our neighboring country (let's be polite and not name it), and I understand your anger. So I am angry at that specific issue, having studied political science, even more, but my comment was purely about greek bureaucracy and politics.

Let's face it, most strikes in this countries are unnecesary.

Olympic Airlines employess dont want a foreign airline to buy olympic?? We should give it to them for free, but without any more help whatsoever. NO MORE BAILOUTS for Olympic. Whoever here believes they would accept this deal Im sorry for you.

Why you and I have to keep paying for a company that doesnt and wont ever make money under the current situation??

F..K them all, they want to keep it? fine, we should give it to them for free, but we wont give them any more money...

I totally agree with nmk and I can't understand the desperate reactions against his critics.

@btw, nmk from which country are you???

by the way, now that i saw that you live in glyfada, and regarding your previous comment:

If you took vouliagmenis yesterday morning all the way to sintagma and didnt take you 2 hours please let me know what shortcut you took. I might need it for next Strike on MONDAY!! haha

thanks olympos, finally looks like there is one person in this forum that is reasonable!

I did 2 hours from Aghios Dimitrios to Omonoia...I had a lesson at 10 in the morning, I took the bus at 8 and arrived there at 10:10. We were stuck outside the 1st Cemetary for more than 1 hour...So I guess that from Glyfada to Omonoia you did something like 4 hours or so...

born in latin america, but i have lived there, greece, and north america

i dont know arxitectonas, our friend Nals or whatever he calls himselfs thinks that I must be from FYROM for saying that it took me 2 hours from south to the center.

You might want to ask him what helicopter station he takes to go there during strikes haha

i dont know arxitectonas, our friend Nals or whatever he calls himselfs thinks that I must be from FYROM for saying that it took me 2 hours from south to the center.

:D

Btw it took me 1.30h from my house till the university. Is the unpleasant reality that an Athenian should live :ohno: But please, do not assess the country or city only from these days, which were full of strikes or from nals' behavior.
It's true though that during the last two weeks we had a big number of strikes which is shameful for our city.

I know olympos, the truth is that it's all in our hands.. This country has been run for an older generation that doesnt know the reality we live in anymore.. They've been long enough in politics, making money, not driving their cars to work and school..

Let's hope that our generation will change things and bring prosperity to our country.

BTW, it has oficially taken me over 45 days to register a company here..

Those are the facts we should see and compare ourselves not with 3rd world countries or ex-communist countries, but with the rest of western europe.

If Nals shows statistics saying we are almost richer than germans, then lets compare ourselves with them, not hungary, or albania, or fyrom... That would be pitty!

BTW, it has oficially taken me over 45 days to register a company here..


Usual bureaucracy :ohno:


Let's hope that our generation will change things and bring prosperity to our country.
Well, the country is prospering comparing with the past but there are some problems which are totally stupid (many strikes,20 people paralyzing the city while blocking some central roads etc) or bureaucratic (like the one you mentioned) + the behavior that many people have which should be changed. I think that these problems should be resolved asap.

Those are the facts we should see and compare ourselves not with 3rd world countries or ex-communist countries, but with the rest of western europe.
Agreed. Actually we should mind our own business and make things better for the future.

btw, you probably know it but keep yourself up to date checking www.oasa.gr.

I know olympos, the truth is that it's all in our hands.. This country has been run for an older generation that doesnt know the reality we live in anymore.. They've been long enough in politics, making money, not driving their cars to work and school..

Let's hope that our generation will change things and bring prosperity to our country.

BTW, it has oficially taken me over 45 days to register a company here..

Those are the facts we should see and compare ourselves not with 3rd world countries or ex-communist countries, but with the rest of western europe.

If Nals shows statistics saying we are almost richer than germans, then lets compare ourselves with them, not hungary, or albania, or fyrom... That would be pitty!NMK YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY REASONABLE PERSON IN THE WHOLE FORUM AND NOBODY BLAMED YOU FOR POINTING OUT THE PROBLEMS OF THE GREEK SOCIETY.... AT LEAST NOT ME

Sky Express Airlines begins return flights to Tirana
TIRANA, Oct 29 - Greek Airline Company Sky Express Airlines landed for the first time at Tirana International Airport (TIA) Tuesday becoming another carrier operating from Albania’s only international airport. The airline has scheduled direct flights to and from Crete on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Thessaloniki on Mondays and Fridays.
Source: http://www.tiranatimes.com/


Cant read the whole news because you have to pay for subscription but interesting nonetheless. :)

Olympic bidders list due next week
4 hours ago

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's transport minister says a list of potential bidders for the sale of ailing, state-run Olympic Airlines will be announced next week.

Costis Hadzidakis says a deadline of expressions of interest in Olympic expires at midnight Friday. He said the government will examine the bids before announcing the list "at some point next week."

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis already has confirmed Qatar Airways' interest during a recent visit to the Gulf country.

Olympic Airlines has accumulated losses of around 2.7 billion euros ($3.52 billion). Last month, the European Union approved Greece's plan to break up the airline and fully privatize it by the end of 2009. But the EU says Olympic must pay back state subsidies worth 850 million euros ($1.1 billion).


FROM: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iUgH93QRuq_TNP-_dmoNeg1pIsjQD945LFF00

Which is still relatively young in terms of airplane years. Usually airplanes are retired when they reach 15-20 years. Sometimes longer. The B747's were around 20 years old when they were retired for the A340's.


Nine years is nothing. I think the 747s were pushed for 25 years. Since early 1970s until 1999. My family comes from Serbian routes, but Greek people have a special place in my hearth. They supported us all the time.:cheers:

Guys Greece is a shameful mess. To all of you know think that any group of people have the right to do whatever they want is WRONG. If I MUST leave (for any personal reason, let's say a family memeber died) from athens airport to catch a connection somewhere esle, and some corrupt lazy people that call themselves "workers" don't respect my personal rights, why should we respect them? Just because they form a union and they are a political issue between two political parties???

I've been here in Greece for 1.5 months and I've been through AT LEAST 5 labour strikes. Some people last week decided to sit on the road in front of the parliament. Metro, tram, buses, all means of public transport got closed. Traffic completely collapsed. Now lets say that I had an accident and I need to get rushed to a hospital. Should I die because the ambulance couldnt get on time because roads were closed?

My point is that everybody has the right to protest, but when doing so, you should respects my rights too! Why do millions of people suffer when a small group of people decide to go on a strike? Is that fair to everyone? Would you like me to have a strike and close the entrance/exit to your house so you can't move just because I have the right to do so?

ALL these scum bags should get arrested for doing what they did. There should be a court that decides when a strike is legal and when it's not, and if it isn't, workers should get paid por the days they go on strike.

By the way, why did the metro workers go on strike yesterday? Were they really demanding something serious or were they just tired from they long weekend???

I am disgusted with this country because I come here to work and seems that NO ONE respects other people's rights. For instance, it took me 2 hours to get to the center yesterday and I wasnt able to do what I had to do. Just ebcause the metro workers didn't want to work and I wasn't aware of that.

Then, WHERE ARE MY RIGHTS???

So essentially, you contradict your self by saying people have the right to protest, but then demand they be arrested for protesting?

Your personal rights? They are not infringing on your rights. It is not your personal right to travel by plane, car, bus, tram, metro, cross country train, ferry, helicopter, space shuttles or anything else. It is a privlidge. And don't forget that.

Were paramedics and hospitals on strike? No. If you had an accident or heart attack or whatever and were in need of medical attention, an ambulance could still reach you(THATS WHAT ITS SIRENS AND FLASHING LIGHTS ARE FOR, FOR OTHER VEHICLES TO MOVE OUT OF THE WAY IN AN EMERGENCY) and take you to hospital.

So stop with the melodramatic nonsense.

Yes it's a shame there are so many strikes, but there is no need to exagerate and carry on like a drama queen and side track the thread.

1821 tell me where you live so on monday me and my friends close the roads where you live.. If that's not infringing, then just give me the address, im sure you'll find it a privilege.
and if you dont remember, a few weeks we did have a general strike. we have anoher metro, tram, and isap stoppage on monday. IT MIGHT NOT BE A NECESSITY FOR YOU TO USE BLIC TRANSPORTATION, BUT FOR SOME OF US IT'S A NEED!

"THATS WHAT ITS SIRENS AND FLASHING LIGHTS ARE FOR, FOR OTHER VEHICLES TO MOVE OUT OF THE WAY IN AN EMERGENCY"

Sure about that, but if someone is dying, I'm sure it wont be a problem if it takes them 3 times longer to get to the hospital due to people closing roads.. I see how well your logic works.

Regarding my previous comment, I wasnt contradicting myself at all. People have the right to protest, but when doing so, they should RESPECT other peoples righst as well. I just can't go closing roads everywhere without giving a f... That would make me an animal, and we have plenty of those here, Im sure you are very familiar with that because you seem not to care.

Countries have laws, and closing an airport's runway is ILLEGAL here, in congo, in america, everywhere.

Tell me what would happen if there is an emergency landing situation?? What would have happened my friend??

How old are you by the way, 10???
You problably dont have to wake up early and dont have kids you want to see after work. We do!!

Last week I had to WALK for an hour because some animals closed the roads in the center. I had promised my kid I would take him to the park, eventually I couldnt. IF THAT IS NOT INFRINGEMENT TO YOU, maybe you dont know the meaning of the word.

So

NMK WHO SAID THAT GREECE DONT HAVE PROBLEMS?
WE ALL AGREE WITH THIS.
ONE OF THEM IS THIS <<EVERYTHING IS ZERO>> ATTITUDE OF SOME PEOPLE LIKE YOU.
PERSONALLY IM 29 YEARS OLD I DONT HAVE KIDS TO SEE AFTER WORK BUT IM STILL NOT VERY HAPPY WITH TRAFFIC AND PROTESTS CLOSING THE ROADS BUT I DONT THINK THAT PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE THE ONES THAT WILL CHANGE THE SITUATION IN GREECE.
I ALSO ADVICE YOU NOT TO TEACH YOUR KIDS CALLING ANIMALS THE OTHERS WHEN YOU DONT AGREE WITH THEM AND NOT CALLING 10 YEARS OLD KID ANYONE WHO DISAGREE WITH YOU,THEY WILL BECOME AS BAD CITIZETS AS THE ONES THAT YOU DONT LIKE.
I STILL INSIST THAT YOU HAVE TO LEAVE THIS COUNTRY AS WELL AND NEVER BE BOTHERED AGAIN SINCE IT LOOKS LIKE YOU MEAN IT WHEN YOU SAY THAT GREECE DISGUSTS YOU ...

people behaving like animals shouldnt be called people. If you cant take criticism it's not my problem, and if your answer is to tell anyone who makes a criticism to leave the country then i think you should be the one who should leave, because that's what we GREEKS do, Complaint all the time.
You should be used to people complaining, just as you are used (and completely fine with) to strikes..

Yes nmk, because there is only one route to a persons house.
And those protestors are out to block every road to your house incase you are dying and need to get to hospital. THEY WANT YOU DEAD. OMG. Better buy a place next to a hospital if your that worried.

When you learn to use logic your self, then talk about it. Until then, keep being a drama queen.

and if your answer is to tell anyone who makes a criticism to leave the country then i think you should be the one who should leave, because that's what we GREEKS do, Complaint all the time.

See the problem I have with people such as your self, is why on earth do you join such forums? Correct me if I'm mistaken, but do you want Greece to progress? Do you want Greece to excel? Or are you just interested in complaining and moaning about things? Because the more you complain and moan, the more things will stay the same.
If you dont like something, go do something about it instead of complaining about it.

You dont like people protesting? Go start an action group to tackle the problem with like minded people. Stop complaining and repeating the same shit every time there is a protest or some unionised workers go on strike!!

Were paramedics and hospitals on strike? No. If you had an accident or heart attack or whatever and were in need of medical attention, an ambulance could still reach you(THATS WHAT ITS SIRENS AND FLASHING LIGHTS ARE FOR, FOR OTHER VEHICLES TO MOVE OUT OF THE WAY IN AN EMERGENCY) and take you to hospital.

Yeah, but if the streets are jam-packed with traffic in the middle of Athens, and a ambulance comes from behind, there really inst anywhere for that traffic to move to. And I believe in the general strike a couple weeks ago, hospital doctors were also on strike, only leaving the 'skeleton crew'. :bash: Sure there were still doctors, but still....

But I get your point in general.

Qatar Air, US firm eyeing Greece's Olympic Air-paper
Sat Nov 1, 2008 7:39am EDT

ATHENS, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Qatar Airways and a US aircraft charter firm were among the interested parties for the sale of Greece's state-owned Olympic Airlines, daily Naftemporiki reported on Saturday.

Citing unnamed sources, the paper said Qatar Airways, US aircraft charter firm Chrysler Aviation, Greek-US investors consortium York Capital/Olympic investors and a consortium of Greek shipowners and private equity funds have expressed initial interest in the ailing airline.

Greece's conservative government launched a tender in September to split the loss-making carrier into three parts, the airline services along with the ground handling and the technical maintenance units, and sell them off. Investors had until the end of October to express an interest to bid.

Five firms, including Goldair, Chrysler Aviation and Spain's Swissport and Flight Care, have submitted interest for Olympic's ground handling services, the paper added.

Officials at Greece's Transport Ministry declined to comment on the report.

The government said on Friday it would announce Olympic's short-listed applicants early next week. Interested parties will then be allowed to conduct due diligence on Olympic and submit non-binding bids by the end of the month.

Greece aims to conclude the tender by the end of 2008, ending years of failed attempts to privatise Olympic.

The plan has been approved by the European Commission, which agreed to suspend action over illegal state subsidies if the sale went ahead.

Lazard, NBG International, Alpha Bank and Emporiki Bank are advising the government on the tender.

In an article in another newspaper, Greek Transport Minister Costis Hatzidakis defended the 1.3 billion euro plan for the sale of Olympic, saying the privatisation would be to the Greek people's benefit.

"Greek taxpayers will be benefited, as they will have to pay much less money than what they would pay if we kept the current ailing and loss-making Olympic," Hatzidakis wrote in Kathimerini newspaper.

Olympic Airlines carried 6.2 million passengers in 2007 to 36 cities and islands in Greece and 37 destinations in Europe, Asia, North America and Africa. It has losses of over 2 million euros a day. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; editing by Chris Pizzey)

FROM: http://www.reuters.com/article/euMergersNews/idUSL111784720081101

Interesting that Olympic Investors is ONCE AGAIN in the bidding process. (or rumored to be). They were also in the bidding process on the governments last attempt to sell Olympic, and actually won I think, and were ready to sign a contract. But I think it fell through because they didnt want to pay off OA's debts, and were waiting for a solution from Greece. I believe they were planning to order new planes and expand internationally with OA.

It will be interesting to see if this article is true, and what plans each company has for Olympic. Hopefully the Greek government will go with the company that has the best plans for OA and money to let it grow, and NOT just who offers the most money to buy.

I just heard on Greek TV that there are 10 investors interested in OA, and that they will be officially reveled then. Until then, rumors are still popping up from sources. The newest name in the press is Spain's Iberia Airlines. They are also rumored to have bid for OA's Maintenance Center. Coincidentally, this past year OA subbed their A340 engine deal to Iberia, who maintains a very big A340 fleet.



FROM: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gns1HVifGEt06IsGypT_l6H6OuZg


Qatar Airlines, Iberia could bid for Olympic Airlines: Greek state TV

1 hour ago
ATHENS (AFP) — Qatar Airlines and Iberia are among more than a dozen investors which have expressed a preliminary interest in buying parts of ailing Greek national carrier Olympic Airlines, state television NET said on Monday.

Citing transport ministry sources, NET said at least 18 candidates including airlines and private funds tabled non-binding declarations of interest in the first phase of an international tender that ended on October 31.

The transport ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.

Without naming the candidates, Transport Minister Costis Hatzidakis told reporters the Greek government was satisfied with the investor lineup.

"Of course there is satisfaction. Never in the past, in any process to privatise Olympic, had there been such a preliminary interest," he said.

The Greek government will study the offers and release the candidate list in the coming days, NET said.

Greece wants to sell the airlines by the end of the year. The bids and selection process will be surveyed by a third-party proxy.

The sale involves three separate parts of the company -- airline services, ground handling and technical maintenance.

The investor or investors chosen will be obliged to keep the name Olympic, the logo and the existing flight slots.

Greek governments have spent years seeking private investors to take over Olympic Airlines, which is crippled with debt, but the process was complicated by the European Commission's demand that the company repay illegal state aid.

The EU in September gave the green light for Greece's plans to privatise the airlines, but said 850 million euros (one billion dollars) of illegal state aid must be returned.

The privatisation has divided the company's employees, many of whom have been offered early retirement packages and state jobs elsewhere.

But the Greek federation of civil aviation unions (OSPA) remains strongly opposed and has staged several protests against the move.

The future of national air carriers looks bleak in Europe, yet selling off Olympic is not the answer. Greece being a central tourist destination should have control of its own airline yet this current government is more interested in 'selling" rather than helping. A few articles below concerning the airline industries in Europe.


From the Guardian

Britain's BMI is being taken over by the German flag carrier Lufthansa for €400m (£318m) in the latest shake-up in the European airline industry.

Lufthansa, which already owns just under 30% of BMI, has bought the 50% owned by BMI chairman Sir Michael Bishop, taking its stake to 80%. The remaining 20% of BMI is owned by Sweden-based Scandinavian Airlines, which has said it also wants to sell.

The deal will give Lufthansa the second largest share of takeoff and landing slots at London's Heathrow airport, behind British Airways. BMI holds 11.4% of the slots at Heathrow, second only to BA's 41.5%.

The deal was welcomed by Sir Richard Branson's carrier, Virgin Atlantic, which sees an opportunity to create a major rival to BA.

"Michael Bishop is one of the icons of UK aviation. He has been a considerable force in championing the cause of the consumer and, along with Virgin Atlantic, has helped to provide much-needed competition to BA and choice for consumers," said Steve Ridgway, the chief executive of Virgin Atlantic.

"Now we are about to enter the next phase of BMI's future and a turning point in aviation. Everyone has speculated that it would make sense for Virgin Atlantic and BMI to combine their long-haul and short-haul networks. There is now a major opportunity to do that and create a new and even more effective competitor to BA.

"I am sure that Lufthansa realise the future opportunities and this could be a really good example of the right industry consolidation. It would be good for consumers, for UK plc and European aviation's competitiveness."

Lufthansa is playing a major role in the consolidation of the European aviation industry. Earlier this year, it took a 45% stake in Brussels Airlines, with the option to buy the Belgian airline outright in 2011. It is also considering buying stakes in Austrian Airways and Italy's Alitalia.

In its third-quarter results today, Lufthansa said Bishop exercised a "put option" for his stake of 50%, plus one share, in BMI on 10 October. The transaction is expected to be completed by January 12.

BMI can trace its origins back to 1938 and acquired the name British Midland in 1964, later changed to BMI. Last year, the airline carried 10.6 million passengers, and it flies to 51 destinations using a fleet of 51 planes.

Lufthansa flew 83.1 million passengers last year and operates to 209 destinations with a fleet of 276 planes.

Dr Ashley Steel, the global chair for transport and infrastructure at KPMG, said: "This is a much welcome next stage in the restructuring process of the European airline industry. This reinforces that airlines are no longer national in the true sense of the word or can be run on a national basis.

"The global economic downturn will intensify the industry crisis and the need for consolidation in the airline sector. The time has come to abolish rules that restrict foreign investors to only a limited stake in most airlines.

"As we have seen in the banking sector, a global economy needs international regulation and now it's time for the airline industry to abolish country-by-country rules."

Rebel Alitalia unions vow 'actions' over contract terms
From AFP

ROME (AFP) — Four rebel unions representing Alitalia pilots and flight attendants vowed Monday to stage "all useful actions" to protest the terms of a rescue plan for the near-bankrupt national flag carrier.

The unions issued a statement after a general assembly reaffirming their rejection of an October 31 accord signed by four labour federations.

They said they would mount "all useful actions leading to the cancellation of this agreement and a resumption of correct labour relations" between the "real" representatives of Alitalia crew and the investor group CAI (Italian Air Company).

A fifth union, one of two representing flight attendants, walked out of the meeting complaining that debate had been stifled.

Massimo Muccioli, head of the ANPAV union, denounced what he called "a veritable ambush set up by the partners and friends of the 'no' front," the ANSA news agency reported.

"ANPAV will, in the coming hours and days, decide with full autonomy which clarifications and changes might convince us to adhere to the plan," he said.

If the rebel unions continue to resist, pilots and flight attendants may be rehired on an individual basis instead of according to procedures agreed with each group, Italian press reports said.

CAI last week submitted its final, binding offer, dubbed the "Phoenix Plan," for the ailing airline despite the objections of the diehard unions representing crew.

Labour confederations that have signed on to the plan, which will entail about 3,250 job losses, called on the rebel unions to reconsider their opposition over contractual issues.

"I hope good sense will prevail on the part of the pilots and flight attendants because there is no alternative," said Luigi Angeletti, secretary general of the Italian Labour Union (UIL), on Italian television.

All nine unions representing Alitalia workers agreed to the outlines of the plan in late September.

Also on Monday, special administrator Augusto Fantozzi said he had "taken note" of CAI's final offer for the airline, which is valid until November 30, and said it would be submitted to a formal review.

Alitalia is losing about three million euros (4.3 million dollars) a day and has debts totalling some 1.2 billion euros.

The airline, which is 49.9 percent state-owned, has been in business since 1946-47.

Under the terms of its offer, worth about one billion euros, CAI would take on 12,500 Alitalia workers while laying off 3,000.

CAI will not take on Alitalia's debts -- to be shouldered instead by the Italian taxpayer -- and has said it will abandon the deal if the European Commission deems that a 300-million-euro government bridging loan made in April flouts state aid rules.

Irish budget airline Ryanair last month submitted a formal complaint to the EU Commission over the loan.

"Despite the blatant nature of the Italian government's breaches of the EU state aid rules, we have no doubt that the EU Commission will again rubber stamp this unlawful bailout," Ryanair lawyer Jim Callaghan said.

The Italian government sank 4.58 billion euros into the company between 1998 and 2005.

The new Alitalia will need the participation of an established foreign airline to remain viable, and Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and British Airways have indicated interest, either as stakeholders or, in BA's case, as a partner.

FROM: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iUgH93QRuq_TNP-_dmoNeg1pIsjQD949IA4O2

Greece announces bidders for Olympic Airlines

23 hours ago

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's government has named 16 bidders for its sale of Olympic Airlines.

Companies interested in Olympic's operations are Athens Airways, Chrysler Aviation, Fouad El Ghanim Group, MyAir, Qatar Airways, Sky Europe and Sky One.

For ground handling the companies interested are: Athens Airways, Ellaktor, Fouad El Ghanim Group, Goldair, Hellenic Cargo Group, and Swissport.

For Olympic's technical maintenance, the bidders are: Athens Airways, Iberia and Fouad El Ghanim Group.

Transport Ministry officials said Thursday that 22 further potential bidders had requested that their names not be made public.

The government plans to liquidate Olympic and transfer most of its 8,100 staff to other public sector jobs.




One of these "Unnamed bidders" is another European Airline. Lufthansa and Aegean have ruled OA out, but Air France/KLM has not said anything. Hmmm....

Hellenic Imperial Airways licence gets revoked

Συστάθηκε στις 30 Μαΐου του 2006, έλαβε προσωρινή άδεια πτητική εκμετάλλευσης από την ΥΠΑ λίγους μήνες αργότερα η οποία ανεστάλη στις 23 Φεβρουαρίου του 2007. Λίγους μήνες αργότερα, στο τέλος του 2007, χορηγήθηκε στην Hellenic Imperial Airways τελικώς η οριστική άδεια πτητικής εκμετάλλευσης (AOC) η οποία όμως αφαιρέθηκε και πάλι πριν από δύο εβδομάδες περίπου, ύστερα από καταγγελίες τόσο στην αρμόδια ελληνική αρχή όσο και στην EASA (ευρωπαϊκή υπηρεσία ασφάλειας αερομεταφορών). Πρόκειται για μια αεροπορική εταιρεία η οποία από την ημέρα που λειτούργησε για πρώτη φορά προκάλεσε πολλές υποψίες και άφησε αναπάντητα ερωτήματα, καθώς διατηρούσε για μεγάλα χρονικά διαστήματα τα τέσσερα Jumbo (Boeing 747) της καθηλωμένα στο έδαφος. Τα παράδοξα όμως ξεκίνησαν από την άφιξη του πρώτου αεροσκάφους της εταιρείας στη χώρα, όταν αυτό ακόμα πετούσε με τα σήματα της Air Universal, εταιρεία με βάση τη Σιέρα Λεόνε.

Το κόστος της στάθμευσης στο αεροδρόμιο «Ελ. Βενιζέλος» υπέρογκο, ενώ η πτητική της δραστηριότητα παρουσίαζε διακυμάνσεις. Η επίσημη ιστοσελίδα αναφέρει ότι η εταιρεία στοχεύει στην εκτέλεση προγραμματισμένων και ναυλωμένων (charter) πτήσεων, στην μεταφορά εμπορευμάτων σε Ευρώπη, Μέση Ανατολή, την ευρύτερη περιοχή της Μεσογείου αλλά και υπερατλαντικούς προορισμούς. Ωστόσο καθ’ όλη τη διάρκεια λειτουργίας της η HIA εκτελεί μόνο λίγες ναυλωμένες πτήσεις.

Πληροφορίες αναφέρουν ότι η άδεια πτητικής εκμετάλλευσης αφαιρέθηκε από την HIA ύστερα από παρατυπίες που διαπιστώθηκαν σε επίπεδο ασφάλειας πτήσεων, παραβίασης ωραρίου απασχόλησης προσωπικού και προβλήματα στην εκπαίδευση. Οι υπεύθυνοι της HIA εκφράζουν την πεποίθηση ότι θα αρθεί σύντομα η αναστολή της άδειας πτητικής εκμετάλλευσης, ενώ αποδίδουν την αναστολή της σε παρατυπίες που δεν αφορούν τη λειτουργία της εταιρείας αλλά τις υπηρεσίες με τις οποίες έχουν κληθεί να συνεργαστούν. Υποστηρίζουν μάλιστα ότι διαθέτουν τους πιο πεπειραμένους χειριστές, τεχνικούς εδάφους και ιπταμένους, καθώς η πλειονότητά τους προέρχεται από τους κόλπους της Ολυμπιακής. «Η EASA ήθελε να χτυπήσει το καμπανάκι σε άλλους και προέβη στον αιφνίδιο έλεγχο και στην απόφαση αναστολής της αδείας μας», ισχυρίζεται στέλεχος της εταιρείας.

Source: http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_economyepix_2_09/11/2008_291453

FROM: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSLB39703120081111

Airline Aegean's profit down 21 pct on fuel, dlr
Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:20am EST

ATHENS, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Greek carrier Aegean Airlines (AGNr.AT: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a 21 percent drop in nine-month net profit on Tuesday due to high fuel costs and the strengthening of the dollar versus the euro.

Aegean, which competes with debt-ridden national carrier Olympic Airlines [OLY.UL], said profits fell to 26.5 million euros ($33.75 million) in the first nine months of the year despite an increase in passenger numbers.

Greece's largest privately-owned airline said it carried 4.6 million passengers during the period, up 13 percent on a year ago. Passengers on domestic flights rose 8 percent, while international routes saw a 23 percent increase.

"Aegean is reporting healthy results despite the adverse conditions affecting the industry and the crisis in the banking sector," Chief Executive Dimitris Gerogiannis said.

In October Aegean said the rise in oil prices would cut its full-year profits but fuel hedging and strong cash reserves of 180 million euros would help mitigate the downturn.

"The current crisis creates new challenges given the slowing economy and makes it very difficult to estimate anything for the next 12 to 18 months ... We remain focused on our growth plans," Gerogiannis said in a statement.

Aegean said sales rose 26 percent to 468 million euros, due to the traffic increase, the delivery of new aircraft and ticket surcharges for both domestic and international flights for higher fuel prices, which account for about 35 percent of the airline's costs.

Since it went public in 2007, Aegean has been renewing its fleet and wanting to add more destinations. It has not bid, however, in the ongoing privatisation of loss-making Olympic.

Aegean shares have fallen about 47 percent since the start of the year, outperforming the broader Greek market , which is down about 57 percent.

The stock trades nine times estimated earning versus a multiple of 12 for the European airlines sector, according to Reuters Estimates. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Elaine Hardcastle)

From: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSLO11099920081124


Greece expects 150 mln euro a year from new Olympic
Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:59am EST

ATHENS, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Greece expects that Olympic Airlines [OLY.UL] will contribute 150 million euros ($188.9 million) a year to state revenues once it is privatised, ending a decades-long drain on the state purse, the prime minister said on Monday.

"Over the last few years Olympic has had losses of 350-400 million euros annually," Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis told reporters. "The new Olympic is forecast to provide the state revenues of 150 million euros each year."

Greece's conservative government split the flag carrier, which loses as much as 2 million euros a day, into three units in September and launched a tender to privatise them, ending years of efforts to find a single buyer for the ailing airline.

"By mid-December, non-binding bids will be presented, and we will have binding bids in January," Karamanlis said.

Earlier this month, 13 investors expressed an interest in buying the flight operations of the state-run group [OLY.UL].

Qatar's state carrier, U.S. charter companies SkyOne and Chrysler Aviation, budget airlines Sky Europe and Italian MyAir, Kuwait's Fouad Al Ghanim Group and new group Athens Airways expressed initial interest.

"The restructuring of Olympic ... will relieve the Greek taxpayer of the burden of paying for their losses," Karamanlis said.

Goldair, Swissport (FER.MC: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Hellenic Cargo, Fouad Al Ghanim Group, Athens Air, and Greek builder Ellaktor expressed an interest in Olympic's ground handling operations, while Iberia (IBLA.MC: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Athens Air and the Kuwaiti group are interested in Olympic's technical maintenance operations.

Not all groups that expressed interest were named at the time, but all groups that make binding bids will be.

Greece has wrangled for years with Brussels over state aid to Olympic. The latest privatisation plan has been approved by the European Commission, which agreed to suspend action over illegal state subsidies if the sale went ahead. (Reporting by George Hatzidakis; Editing by Daniel Flynn)

What is this Athens Airways group? I can't find much info on them and their investors.

What is this Athens Airways group? I can't find much info on them and their investors.

They are a new start up airline. According to the article here: http://www.traveldailynews.gr/new.asp?newid=43125&subcategory_id=1

"Η Athens Airways ιδρύθηκε το έτος 2008 και αποτελεί μια νέα ιδιωτική αεροπορική εταιρεία με βάση το αεροδρόμιο "Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος" της Αθήνας. Οι υπηρεσίες της Athens Airways επικεντρώνονται στην ασφαλή, γρήγορη και αξιόπιστη μεταφορά των επιβατών σε βασικούς προορισμούς σε όλη την Ελλάδα, εστιάζοντας στην παροχή υψηλής ποιότητας υπηρεσιών.

Η Athens Airways θα δίνει στους επιβάτες τη δυνατότητα να απολαύσουν ένα νέο επίπεδο εξυπηρέτησης πριν, κατά τη διάρκεια, αλλά και μετά την πτήση, παρέχοντας μια ολοκληρωμένη ταξιδιωτική εμπειρία. Όλοι οι επιβάτες θα απολαμβάνουν τα προνόμια της διακεκριμένης θέσης, χωρίς να γίνεται διαχωρισμός.

Ο στόλος της Athens Airways θα αποτελείται αρχικά από τέσσερα αεροσκάφη τύπου τζετ 50 θέσεων, ERJ-145 της εταιρείας EMBRAER, τα οποία θα παραλαμβάνονται προοδευτικά από το Νοέμβριο μέχρι το Φεβρουάριο του 2008. Από τον Μάρτιο θα εξυπηρετούνται από την Αθήνα βασικοί προορισμοί στη βόρεια και νησιωτική Ελλάδα. Διευθύνων σύμβουλος και ιδιοκτήτης της Athens Airways είναι ο κ. Σάκης Ανδριανόπουλος και τα γραφεία της εταιρείας στεγάζονται στο Κορωπί. "




They have a PDF available on their website too: http://www.athensairways.com/ Strangely enough, their logo is a bit reminiscence of OA. Quite an ambitious goal for them bidding for OA, especially since we do not know investor information about them as you mention.

Hmm!!!

I've read about that company a long time ago in a website. They are going to sell OA either we like it either we not. Because OA is not profitable. In fact it costs for the Greek ratepayer more than 1.000.000 euros DAILY...

So it's a really good thing that Greece is going to have a new airways/airline company. With Aegean Airlines are going to be a huge hit from Greece to world's aviation.
(If it succeeds of course, which I hope :nocrook:).

Indeed the colors are weird. Very similar to OA.

FROM http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=261163&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56


Qatar Airways eyes stake in Greek carrier
By Pratap John

QATAR Airways yesterday said it was evaluating Olympic Airlines for a stake in Greece’s state-run carrier.
“We have signed a letter of interest in Olympic; we are evaluating Olympic. We should be able to make a decision on Olympic sometime in the near future,” Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker told Gulf Times last night.

The privatization of debt-laden Olympic Airlines was approved by parliament in Athens through a vote on October 2 this year, giving the green light to a scheme which has European Union approval.

In September, the EU had approved the sale scheme for the airline, which reportedly has considerable debts, but made approval conditional on the airline paying back state subsidies.

Olympic Airlines began operating in its current form in December 2003, following the integration of all Olympic Airways and Olympic Aviation flight operations by Macedonian Airlines, which was renamed to Olympic Airlines, and until then only performed charter flights, according to the company’s website.

It serves some 78 destinations and has a fleet of 41.

Hopefully Olympic can one day have a decent website. Here is one I created from scratch but never finished some time back before they made their "new" one:
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5650/olympicairsitens3.jpg
Obviously the empty space in the middle can be used for more promotional material etc.

An amazing look! And the livery is actually pretty good too. Hopefully the people at OA improve the site with the new sale...

If Qatar Air does buy into Olympic, hopefully they invest in it and don't just use it to suck money out of. A total overhaul of the livery, logo, and image of the company, with new destinations added would be good. I think what would also help the new airline, would be adding some low cost flights around the Balkans and to Italy.

And that looks awsome Giorgo. The livery on the plane is amazing. Lets hope someone with authority at Olympic is looking right now. hehe

What's so great about the livery you posted is that its sort of like Classic Olympic meats Modern Olympic. And thats what the future new owners should do to the OA livery too if they change it. I mean they should still keep a classic element to it.

Love the website image Giorgio, however I think its time Olympic changes its rings logo to something else, maybe an olympic torch or some other interesting emblem. BTW I love the design they did for the Olympics.

http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/1576/olympic2004designwt8.png

That was the point of my livery, to make it modern meets classic. :)
I personally like the rings and therefore opted to keep them, they are distinctive, relevant and look quite nice.

Or keep the rings and change them a bit...

Giorgo if you don't mind me asking quickly, how did you 'write' on that plane? I assume you did and it wasn't like that. Let me know via PM if its too complicated for a reply in the thread.

I modelled and rendered the plane myself in 3dsmax using textures for the fuselage made in photoshop.

FROM: http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/12/23/afx5853884.html


Greece gets 7 non-binding bids for Olympic Air
12.23.08, 04:54 AM EST

ATHENS, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Greece said on Tuesday seven investors submitted non-binding bids for its ailing flag carrier Olympic Airlines, all cleared to continue to the next stage of the privatisation.

'The deadline for the submission of binding bids is January 30, 2009,' the country's privatisations committee said.

Seven bids were also received for the ground handling unit and three for the aircraft maintenance business.

Greece's conservative government split the carrier into three units in September and launched a tender to privatize them. The move ended years of of efforts to find a single buyer for the company which loses an estimate 2 million euros a day.

(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos) Keywords: GREECE OLYMPICAIR/



FROM: http://www.ana.gr/anaweb/user/showplain?maindoc=7156555&maindocimg=1238736&service=94

Binding offers for OA by end Jan.

The Greek government expects binding offers by investors interested in buying Olympic Airlines to be submitted by January 30, 2009, an Inter-ministerial Privatisation Commission said on Tuesday.

The Commission meeting, chaired by Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis, and comprised of Development Minister Christos Folias, Employment and Social Protection Minister Fani Palli-Petralia and Transport and Communications Minister Costis Hatzidakis, approved the continuation of a privatisation procedure of the country's national flag carrier.

A total of 17 investors are participating in three tenders to sell Olympic Airlines, grounding handling services and aircraft maintenance services.

The privatisation procedure is entering the final stage of binding offers.

FROM: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/24/2

(This is just for OA itself)


Seven clear to continue bid for Olympic airways

Seven investors have submitted non-binding bids for Olympic Airlines, and all have been cleared to continue to the next stage of the privatisation. The deadline for binding bids is 30 January. Greece's privatisation plan has been approved by the European commission, which agreed to suspend action over illegal state subsidies if the sale went ahead. In September, Greece's conservative government split the national carrier into three units and launched a tender to privatise them. The move ended years of effort to find a single buyer for the company, which loses about €2m (£1.8m) a day. Press Association

It will be interesting to see who the seven bidders are, and whether they are all airlines or not.

A new article claiming that Qatar Airways and Iberia Airlines are no longer part of the bidding process for Olympic:

FROM: http://www.hellenicnews.com/readnews.html?newsid=9500&lang=US


Biministerial Meeting on Olympic Airlines

The privatization biministerial committee, which met under the chairmanship of Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis, approved the privatization process of Olympic Airlines. Transport Minister Kostis Hatzidakis briefed the PM on the issue and stated he was satisfied for the participation in the tender amid the crisis. We believe, said Mr Hatzidakis that we have a good investing basis despite the exceptionally negative global circumstance that will allow us to hope that all will go well. The 17 candidates can submit their binding bids until 30 January 2009, which is the deadline for submitting bids. Then, the new investors will be announced. Meanwhile, cancellations of Olympic Airlines domestic flights will continue in the next days if the company's technicians are not allowed overtime work.

Seventeen Bids without Air Qatar and Iberia
The biminesterial committee was briefed by the state officials on the privatization process, which is entering the phase of submission committing bids by candidate investors for the three tenders that concern the sectors of flights, ground service and repair of aircrafts. To continue in this phase are seven candidate investors for the sector of flights, seven for ground service and three for aircraft repair.

It should be noted that the list of those who are interested in taking part in the tender does not include Air Qatar and Iberia.The bidders consist of Saudi and European businessmen, while some Greek businessmen have also exhibited interest.

"In a period during which the increasing tourism, Greece's regional cohesion, flying safety and the restructuring of our national carrier, the 8,000 full time working positions are the goal, the ND government insists on liquidating OA.

It passes the flying sector, the technical base and service to third companies to competitive-prospective private buyers and banks that interested only in increasing their profits, even with the institutionalization of insecure labour relations. In parallel, PASOK's leadership is still looking for "a good privatization deal" of Olympic Airlines, commented in its announcement SYN (Coalition of the Left), adding that the only realistic solution to the benefit of the people is the creation of a powerful Public Joint Air Carrier.

On OSE's Streamlining
Regarding OSE (Hellenic Railways Association), Mr Hatzidakis told the prime minister that the programme for the Organisation's restructuring is in progress and is based on four axes. Regarding safety, he said we have begun cooperating with the French railways, and as for transparency is big effort is taking place from the Organisation's board and the Finance Ministry, which is carrying out regular and extraordinary checks on OSE. Regarding development, electric traction from Thessaloniki to Domokos has finished, while the Suburban Rail's electric traction will finish by summer and the new Athens-Halkida line will be materialized.

Regarding OSE's streamlining, the Transport Minister said that a huge effort is under way so that the finances of the most problematic European railway are improved. In this way, the operational deficit will drop from 455 million euros in 2007 to 80 million euros in 2010. We wish to save this money for investments and social policy, adding that those who argue that are in favour of a social policy, should not react to such streamlining moves irrelevant of where they derive from.

Sort of a let down that Qatar did not move onto this round of bidding, as they were a great candidate (with lots of money too). Let's see who will enter binding offers by January 30, 2009....

I wonder if Olympic Investors is part of the bidding. They had won the bidding a few years back when they were trying to privatize Olympic again, but could not reach a deal with Greece on who would pay the EU fines. They had plans of renewing the fleet and starting up new long haul destinations.

Here's my attempt at redesigning the Olympic Airways logo. (Boeing 787)

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/7707/boeing2oi7.jpg

^^That's not bad, the only thing I'd change is the font.

Here's a slightly different font closer in design to the original.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2654/boeing4yn1.jpg

BTW I have been looking for a wider variety of Greek fonts, if anyone is aware of a website that has a huge variety of Greek fonts I would appreciate it.

Much, much better that what the Greek public servants ever imagined about thios airline.

Only OA doesn't fly B 747 anymore... Pity because the ones we had were really reigning the skies.

Back then ...

Aegean Airlines ups passengers 14 pct in 2008

ATHENS, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Greece's largest private airline Aegean Airlines (AGNr.AT) carried 6 million passengers in 2008, up 14 percent year-on-year thanks to a boom in its international business, the company said on Tuesday.

Aegean, whose main competitor Olympic Airlines [OLY.UL] is being privatised, said passengers on domestic flights rose 9 percent, while international routes saw a 24 percent increase last year.

The numbers outshone the grim overall international market. Carriers' group IATA reported in December a 4.6 percent fall in passengers year-one-year, reflecting what it has called a "chronic crisis" in the industry.

Aegean has been renewing its fleet since it went public in 2007. In 2008, it received 15 new Airbus aircraft and added London, Tirana, Paris and the islands of Lemnos and Kefalonia to its destinations, as well as a direct flight to Dusseldorf.

"2008 was a year of important developments for Aegean," said Chief Executive Dimitris Gerogiannis. "Even though we have been operating these new destinations for a short period of time our passengers' positive reaction has been encouraging."

Gerogiannis said Aegean will receive 6 new aircraft in the next four months, expanding its fleet to 31 aircraft. It will also add five new routes to Brussels, Berlin, Barcelona, Vienna and Venice in March.

The carrier reported a 21 percent drop in nine-month net profit, despite an increase in passenger numbers, due to high fuel costs and the strengthening of the dollar versus the euro.

The company said in October that high fuel costs could hurt its full-year profit but fuel hedging and strong cash reserves would help mitigate the downturn.

Aegean shares have fallen about 6 percent since the start of the year, underperforming the broader Greek market .ATG, which is down about 5 percent. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Editing by David Cowell)
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSLR27440820090127

Here's a slightly different font closer in design to the original.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2654/boeing4yn1.jpg

BTW I have been looking for a wider variety of Greek fonts, if anyone is aware of a website that has a huge variety of Greek fonts I would appreciate it.

Heres some I found
http://www.1001freefonts.com/greek-roman-fonts.php
http://www.urbanfonts.com/fonts/greek-fonts.htm
http://simplythebest.net/fonts/foreign_fonts.html theres two on this one
and some more here
http://www.1001fonts.com/search.html?page=7&where=fonts&query=greek

Kserei kaneis ti ginetai me tin Athens Airways???

Kserei kaneis ti ginetai me tin Athens Airways???

In a list released in the fall, they were surprisingly a potential bidder for Olympic Airlines. :nuts: Maybe they are waiting to see how that goes? I think there was an argument from them saying that the Greek government won't support them, and that it is unfair since they support Olympic? Something crazy like that. :bash:

The Binding offers list for OA should be released by the end of the week...

In a list released in the fall, they were surprisingly a potential bidder for Olympic Airlines. :nuts: Maybe they are waiting to see how that goes? I think there was an argument from them saying that the Greek government won't support them, and that it is unfair since they support Olympic? Something crazy like that. :bash:

The Binding offers list for OA should be released by the end of the week...

What? Do they have the money? Who are the owners? It will be really good if a Greek company buys OA.

What? Do they have the money? Who are the owners? It will be really good if a Greek company buys OA.

Most likely they do have the money since they were on an initial list presented by the government in November. (http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSLO11099920081124) Their website can be found at www.athensairways.com It looks like their founder is Sakis Andrianopoulos and their first schedualed flight will be on January 31 to Alexandroupoli.

They say that they will submit a binding offer for OA. The Greek government is supposed to present the list of binding offers by the end of the week On a side note, also on the initial list presented by the Greek government in November was Qatar Airways, but they recently publicly stated that they have no interest in OA. Hmmm....

Here are some recent articles about them, their first flight, and their bid for OA in the news:


FROM: http://www.capital.gr/news.asp?Details=664232

H Athens Airways "χτυπά" τις άγονες γραμμές των Ο.Α.

28/01/2009
Του Φώτη Φωτεινού

Τίμημα αρκετά υποδεέστερο των 100 εκατ. ευρώ είναι διατεθειμένη να προσφέρει η Athens Airways, η οποία συμμετέχει μαζί με την αμερικάνικη SkyOne, στο διαγωνισμό αποκρατικοποίησης των Ολυμπιακών Αερογραμμών.

«Δεν πρόκειται να προσφέρουμε 100 εκατ. ευρώ για την εξαγορά των Ο.Α.», δήλωσε ο ιδρυτής της εταιρείας, κ. Σάκης Ανδριανόπουλος, κατά τη διάρκεια της χθεσινής πρώτης παρουσίασης της εταιρείας στον εγχώριο Τύπο.

Μάλιστα, η Athens Airways βρίσκεται σε συζητήσεις με funds και επενδυτικά σχήματα, προκειμένου να καταστήσει ανταγωνιστικότερη τη δεσμευτική προσφορά που θα καταθέσει, στις 30 Ιανουαρίου, για την εξαγορά των Ολυμπιακών Αερογραμμών.

Παράλληλα, ο κ. Ανδριανόπουλος κατέστησε σαφές ότι η Athens Airways θα συμμετάσχει στους διαγωνισμούς για την κάλυψη των άγονων γραμμών, τις οποίες διεξάγουν σήμερα και στο σύνολό τους, οι Ολυμπιακές Αερογραμμές.

«Υπάρχει χώρος για τρίτη εταιρεία στην Ελλάδα»

O ιδρυτής της Athens Airways εκτίμησε ότι «υπάρχει χώρος για τρίτη αεροπορική εταιρεία στην Ελλάδα», αναγνωρίζοντας συγχρόνως την πρωτοκαθεδρία της Aegean Airlines και ταυτοχρόνως, την συρρίκνωση του έργου των Ολυμπιακών Αερογραμμών.

Η αρχική επένδυση της Athens Airways αναμένεται να ξεπεράσει τα 10 - 12 εκατ. ευρώ, ενώ το συνολικό ύψος, μέσα στην επόμενη τριετία, εκτιμάται ότι θα ανέλθει στα 25 εκατ. ευρώ.

Στόχος της Athens Airways αποτελεί να καταστεί η κυριότερη περιφερειακή εταιρεία της Ελλάδας, καλύπτοντας ουσιαστικά τους κυριότερους νησιωτικούς και ηπειρωτικούς προορισμούς. Αυτό διότι διαβλέπει το αεροπορικό κοινό που αφήνει η συρρίκνωση της Ο.Α. στο εσωτερικό δίκτυο, αλλά και την στόχευση της Aegean Airlines να εμπλουτίσει το δίκτυό της με πανευρωπαϊκούς προορισμούς.

Η εταιρεία προσδοκά ότι τον πρώτο χρόνο εμπορικής λειτουργίας θα κερδίσει μερίδιο αγοράς από 5-12% στους εσωτερικούς προορισμούς.

Στις 31 Ιανουαρίου πρόκειται να πραγματοποιηθεί την πρώτη πτήση, με προορισμό την Αλεξανδρούπολη. Μετά την Αλεξανδρούπολη, ακολουθούν η Καβάλα, η Μυτιλήνη και η Θεσσαλονίκη. Επόμενοι προορισμοί είναι η Ρόδος, η Μύκονος, η Σαντορίνη, τα Χανιά, το Ηράκλειο, η Ζάκυνθος και η Κεφαλλονιά.

Παράλληλα, στα σχέδια της εταιρείας περιλαμβάνεται και η επέκταση σε γειτονικές πόλεις γειτονικών χώρων, όπως η Ιταλία. Η εταιρεία, μέχρι το Πάσχα, θα έχει στη διάθεσή της 4 αεροπλάνα 49 θέσεων, με στόχο να παραλαμβάνει 2-3 ετησίως.

Το business plan προβλέπει ζημιογόνα χρήση το 2009 και λειτουργική κερδοφορία το 2010.




FROM: http://www.euro2day.gr/news/enterprises/122/articles/444358/Article.aspx

Επίσημη πρεμιέρα για την Athens Airways στις 31/1

Εύρεση Συμβόλου
της Μάρως Τσαντήλα
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 08:14 - 28/01/09

Την πρώτη εμπορική της πτήση θα πραγματοποιήσει το Σάββατο 31 Ιανουαρίου η νέα αεροπορική εταιρεία Athens Airways, η οποία πριν ακόμη αποκτήσει το πρώτο της αεροσκάφος έγινε γνωστή στην ελληνική αγορά λόγω της συμμετοχής της στον διαγωνισμό για την πώληση της Ολυμπιακής Αεροπορίας σε κοινό σχήμα με την αμερικάνικη εταιρεία SkyOne.

Η πρώτη πτήση της Athens Airways θα συνδέσει την Αθήνα με την Αλεξανδρούπολη, ενώ μέσα στις επόμενες εβδομάδες θα ξεκινήσει δρομολόγια από την Αθήνα προς την Καβάλα, τη Μυτιλήνη και τη Θεσσαλονίκη. Το φιλόδοξο σχέδιο της εταιρείας προβλέπει ότι εντός του έτους η εταιρεία θα πετά επίσης προς Ρόδο, Μύκονο, Σαντορίνη, Κρήτη, Ζάκυνθο και Κεφαλονιά.

Ο πρόεδρος της εταιρείας κ. Σάκης Ανδριανόπουλος εκτιμά, ανεξαρτήτως της έκβασης του εν εξελίξει διαγωνισμού για την πώληση της ΟΑ, ότι η ελληνική αγορά έχει χώρο για μία τρίτη αεροπορική εταιρεία η οποία θα έχει αμιγώς τοπικό χαρακτήρα.

Στόχος της Athens Airways είναι να αποσπάσει μερίδια της τάξης του 10% στους προορισμούς που θα δραστηριοποιηθεί. Στα σχέδια της εταιρείας περιλαμβάνεται και η συμμετοχή και στους διαγωνισμούς της ΥΠΑ για τις επιδοτούμενες άγονες γραμμές και ειδικά για τις περιοχές αυτές όπου μπορούν να προσγειωθούν τα αεροσκάφη τύπου Embraer με τα οποία η εταιρεία θα πραγματοποιεί τις πτήσεις της.



FROM: http://www.traveltimes.gr/?cat_id=24&article_id=10440

Ανοίγει τα φτερά της η Athens Airways

Στις 31 Ιανουαρίου πρόκειται να πραγματοποιηθεί η πρώτη πτήση της Athens Airways. Το αεροσκάφος της εταιρείας, το πρώτο από τα τέσσερα Embraer 145 της Athens Airways που βρίσκεται ήδη στο αεροδρόμιο Ελεύθερος Βενιζέλος, πρόκειται να πραγματοποιήσει την πρώτη εμπορική πτήση του νέου αερομεταφορέα της χώρας από την Αθήνα με προορισμό την Αλεξανδρούπολη.
«Η πρώτη πτήση σηματοδοτεί την έναρξη της εμπορικής λειτουργίας της Athens Airways» σημείωσε ο κ. Σάκης Ανδριανόπουλος, πρόεδρος και διευθύνων σύμβουλος της εταιρείας. «Μέσα στις επόμενες εβδομάδες, θα ξεκινήσουμε πτήσεις και προς άλλους προορισμούς, αρχής γενομένης από την Καβάλα στις 12 Φεβρουαρίου και θα ακολουθήσουν η Μυτιλήνη στις 27 Φεβρουαρίου και η Θεσσαλονίκη στις 13 Μαρτίου. Στόχος μας είναι να διαφοροποιηθούμε σε σχέση με τον ανταγωνισμό, προσφέροντας ποιοτικές και καινοτόμες υπηρεσίες σε όλους τους επιβάτες μας σε ανταγωνιστικές τιμές» τόνισε ο κ. Ανδριανόπουλος.

Η Athens Airways ιδρύθηκε το 2008 από τον γνωστό επιχειρηματία, Σάκη Ανδριανόπουλο. Στόχος της εταιρείας είναι να αποσπάσει έως 10% της ελληνικής αγοράς πτήσεων εσωτερικού, στους προορισμούς που θα πετάξει μέσα στον πρώτο χρόνο της λειτουργίας της.

Η εταιρεία πήρε την άδεια πτητικής λειτουργίας (Air Operator Certificate – AOC) από την Υπηρεσία Πολιτικής Αεροπορίας (ΥΠΑ) στις 16 Ιανουαρίου 2009.
Το πρώτο αεροσκάφος της Athens Airways έφθασε στο αεροδρόμιο Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος της Αθήνας στις 16 Δεκεμβρίου 2008. Αποτελεί το πρώτο από τα τέσσερα αεροσκάφη 49 θέσεων τύπου τζετ, ERJ-145 της EMBRAER που έχει παραγγείλει, μέχρι στιγμής η εταιρεία.

Τα αεροσκάφη είναι εξοπλισμένα με κινητήρες turbofan - Rolls Royce. Είναι άκρως αξιόπιστα, ευέλικτα, χαμηλού οικονομικού ρίσκου και χαρακτηρίζονται ως ιδανικά για προορισμούς εντός της Ελλάδας αλλά και σε κοντινές γειτονικές χώρες όπως είναι οι προορισμοί που έχει επιλέξει για το ξεκίνημά της η Athens Airways, ενώ επίσης αποτελούν μία «έξυπνη» και ευέλικτη λύση ως charter.

Μετά την Αλεξανδρούπολη, την Καβάλα, τη Μυτιλήνη και τη Θεσσαλονίκη επόμενοι προορισμοί της Athens Airways θα είναι σημαντικά αστικά και τουριστικά κέντρα της χώρας, όπως η Ρόδος, η Μύκονος, η Σαντορίνη, τα Χανιά και το Ηράκλειο, η Ζάκυνθος και η Κεφαλονιά. Μέσα στο καλοκαίρι του 2009, στόχος είναι να αυξηθούν οι προορισμοί αυτοί καθώς και η ημερήσια συχνότητα των πτήσεων, ώστε να εξυπηρετηθεί η αυξημένη ταξιδιωτική κίνηση της περιόδου. Παράλληλα, στα σχέδια της εταιρείας περιλαμβάνεται και η επέκταση σε γειτονικές πόλεις γειτονικών χωρών.

Επίσης, στα πλάνα της Athens Airways περιλαμβάνεται και η δραστηριοποίηση στο χώρο των πτήσεων charter. «Το πλάνο μας περιλαμβάνει, κατά κύριο λόγο, προορισμούς όπου είτε υπάρχει υψηλή ζήτηση είτε δεν καλύπτονται επαρκώς αυτή τη στιγμή, ενώ παράλληλα θα δώσουμε στην ελληνική αγορά την ευκαιρία να προγραμματίζει πτήσεις charter συνδυάζοντας την ποιοτική εξυπηρέτηση και την ευέλικτη μεταφορά μικρών ομάδων» δήλωσε ο κ. Ανδριανόπουλος.

Η αρχική επένδυση αναμένεται να ανέλθει σε 10 με 12 εκατ. ευρώ, ενώ το συνολικό ύψος της επένδυσης μέσα στην επόμενη τριετία εκτιμάται ότι θα ξεπεράσει τα 15 εκατ. ευρώ. H δραστηριοποίηση της Athens Airways δημιουργεί περισσότερες από 165 θέσεις εργασίας. Το ιπτάμενο προσωπικό θα φθάσει στα 75 άτομα, το προσωπικό εδάφους θα είναι 40 άτομα, ενώ στους περιφερειακούς σταθμούς θα εργάζονται συνολικά 50 άτομα.
Οι κρατήσεις και οι εκδόσεις εισιτηρίων της Athens Airways θα γίνονται μέσω Internet στη διεύθυνση www.athensairways.com, μέσω του τηλεφωνικού κέντρου της Athens Airways στα 801 801 4000 (Πανελλαδικά μόνο από σταθερό), 210 – 6696 600 (Από σταθερό ή κινητό) ή 6971 496 600 (Από σταθερό ή κινητό) και μέσω του δικτύου των ταξιδιωτικών πρακτόρων πανελλαδικά.

Τετάρτη 28-01-2009



FROM: http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_economy_1_28/01/2009__301014

Φοβούνται ψυχρολουσία από τις προσφορές για την Ολυμπιακή
Της Αλεξανδρας Kασσιμη

Με τον φόβο οι προσφορές που θα κατατεθούν για την απόκτηση των τριών εταιρειών του Ομίλου της Ολυμπιακής να είναι τρομακτικά χαμηλές είναι αντιμέτωπη η κυβέρνηση. Η ώρα της αλήθειας αναμένεται το βράδυ της Παρασκευής, οπότε και θα κατατεθούν οι δεσμευτικές προσφορές των υποψηφίων επενδυτών, με τα μηνύματα της αγοράς να μην είναι ιδιαίτερα αισιόδοξα. Αμφίβολη εξακολουθεί να είναι η παρουσία της Etihad Airways, ενώ οι προσφορές για το άυλο κομμάτι των Ολυμπιακών Αερογραμμών αναμένονται ιδιαίτερα χαμηλές. Πληροφορίες θέλουν τις προθέσεις των υποψηφίων να περιορίζονται στην υποβολή προσφορών που θα κυμαίνονται πολύ κάτω των 70 εκατ. ευρώ για την Πάνθεον (εταιρεία που διαχειρίζεται το πτητικό κομμάτι του Ομίλου). Σημειώνεται ότι τα 70 εκατ. ευρώ ήταν το ποσό που εθεωρείτο μετριοπαθώς ικανοποιητικό από κύκλους του υπουργείου Μεταφορών μέχρι πρόσφατα. Εως και σήμερα συνεχίζονται οι διαβουλεύσεις μεταξύ των ενδιαφερομένων, ενώ η πλειονότητα των προσφορών, εάν όχι όλες, θα κατατεθεί την Παρασκευή το βράδυ, λίγο πριν από τη λήξη του διαγωνισμού.

Με τον ίδιο τρόπο αναμένεται να κινηθεί η Athens Airways, που στην προηγούμενη φάση του διαγωνισμού είχε κατέβει μαζί με τη SkyOne, η οποία επιβεβαίωσε μέσω του διευθύνοντος συμβούλου της Σάκη Ανδριανόπουλου ότι θα υποβάλει προσφορά την Παρασκευή, χωρίς ωστόσο να γνωρίζει ακόμη με ποιον «σύμμαχο» θα κατέβει. Η Athens Airways έλαβε πρόσφατα το πιστοποιητικό πτητικής εκμετάλλευσης και εγκαινιάζει το Σάββατο την πρώτη εμπορική της πτήση Αθήνα - Αλεξανδρούπολη που θα εκτελέσει με το Embraer ERJ-145, 49 μόλις θέσεων. Στόχος της εταιρείας είναι η εκτέλεση κυρίως πτήσεων εσωτερικού προκειμένου να λάβει στην εσωτερική αγορά μερίδιο 5%-10%, με δεδομένο ότι κανένας από τους ανταγωνιστές αυτή τη στιγμή δεν δραστηριοποιείται αποκλειστικά στο δίκτυο του εσωτερικού. Η εταιρεία αναμένει το επόμενο 15νθήμερο το δεύτερο αεροσκάφος της και τα άλλα δύο θα παραληφθούν στο τέλος Φεβρουαρίου και μετά το Πάσχα αντίστοιχα. Συνολικά η επένδυση της Athens ανέρχεται στα 10-12 εκατ. ευρώ, ενώ εκτιμάται ότι την ερχόμενη 3ετία θα ξεπεράσει τα 15 εκατ. ευρώ. Συνολικά στην εταιρεία αναμένεται να απασχοληθούν 156 άτομα. Εντύπωση προκαλεί το γεγονός ότι με βάση το επιχειρησιακό της σχέδιο αναμένει να εμφανίσει κέρδη κιόλας από το 2010, ενώ συνολικά για το εγχείρημα ο κ. Ανδριανόπουλος τόνισε ότι «είναι μια επένδυση που δεν θα φέρει μεγάλη κερδοφορία, ωστόσο, σε περίπτωση ζημιών αυτές θα είναι ελεγχόμενες».

Την Παρασκευή θα πραγματοποιηθεί η πρώτη πανηγυρική πτήση, ενώ το Σάββατο 31 Ιανουαρίου θα γίνει και η πρώτη εμπορική πτήση της εταιρείας Αθήνα - Αλεξανδρούπολη. Στις 12 Φεβρουαρίου θα ξεκινήσει πτήσεις και προς την Καβάλα και θα ακολουθήσουν η Μυτιλήνη στις 27 Φεβρουαρίου και η Θεσσαλονίκη στις 12 Μαρτίου. Επόμενοι προορισμοί της εταιρείας θα είναι η Ρόδος, η Μύκονος, η Σαντορίνη, τα Χανιά, το Ηράκλειο, η Ζάκυνθος και η Κεφαλονιά. Οι κρατήσεις και οι εκδόσεις εισιτηρίων της Athens Airways θα γίνονται μέσω Διαδικτύου στη διεύθυνση www. athensairways. com, μέσω του τηλεφωνικού κέντρου στα 8018014000 (από σταθερό), 210-66.96.600 ή 6971496600 (σταθερό ή κινητό).

Aegean Airlines
Αυξημένη κατά 14% ήταν η επιβατική κίνηση της Aegean Airlines τo 2008 καθώς, σύμφωνα με ανακοίνωση της εταιρείας, η Aegean με τα 27 αεροσκάφη της διακίνησε 6 εκατ. επιβάτες το 2008. Οι συνολικές πτήσεις που πραγματοποίησε η εταιρεία ήταν 57.635, αυξημένες κατά 5% σε σχέση με το 2007. Ο μέσος αριθμός επιβατών ανά πτήση διαμορφώθηκε στα 104 άτομα έναντι 96 την προηγούμενη χρονιά, ενώ η Αegean κατέχει πλέον το 29% του συνολικού μεριδίου επιβατικής κίνησης μεταξύ των 65 αεροπορικών εταιρειών που εκτελούν πτήσεις στον ΔΑΑ. Στο δίκτυο εσωτερικού, η Aegean μετέφερε 3,7 εκατ. επιβάτες το 2008, ενώ στο δίκτυο εξωτερικού την εταιρεία επέλεξαν 2,3 εκατ. επιβάτες.

^^
thanx a lot...

:D

Hmmm. This is turning out to look worse and worse. First the Greek government names both Qatar Airways and Ethiad Airlines as non-binding offers for OA in December, but both have since come out publicly and stated that they never submitted any bid for OA or are not interested. And now only 3 binding bids have been submitted.


FROM: http://news.ert.gr/en/greece/politics/18374-eksetazontai-oi-prosfores-gia-tin-oa.htm

OA Biddings Examined

Olympic Airways group of companies privatization auction ended at midnight, on Friday with three biddings. Privatization advisors, appointed by the Greek government, and EU representative are studying the biddings while the Ministerial Committee on Privatizations is likely to announce auction results on Wednesday. Biddings were submitted for "Pantheon" which has the flying service, the Ground Service and the Technical companies.

Sources: ΝΕΤ

Thanks 1821 for the Greek font links!

«Πράσινο φως» για υδροπλάνα στη Μαγνησία

Με προσωρινή άδεια από το υπουργείο Εμπορικής Ναυτιλίας θα επιτραπεί η λειτουργία υδατοδρομίων στη Μαγνησία, όπως ισχύει σε άλλες περιοχές της χώρας.

Η αντινομάρχης Τουρισμού Μαγνησίας, Εύη Αδαμάκη, απέσπασε τη θετική απάντηση σε συνάντηση που είχε στην Αθήνα και τόνισε πως κύριο μέλημα είναι η δικτύωση και η σωστή λειτουργία των υδατοδρομίων στην περιοχή, προς όφελος των πολιτών και των χιλιάδων επισκεπτών της.

Ο σχεδιασμός προβλέπει τη δημιουργία υδατοδρομίων στα λιμάνια Βόλου, Σκιάθου και Σκοπέλου (Γλώσσα), τα οποία δεν εντάσσονται στις περιοχές Natura, ενώ για το λιμάνι της Αλοννήσου, λόγω του Θαλάσσιου Πάρκου, το αίτημα θα εξεταστεί ξεχωριστά.

Να σημειωθεί ότι η μεξικανοαμερικανικών συμφερόντων εταιρεία Argo Ways δηλώνει έτοιμη να ξεκινήσει τη σύνδεση Βόλου - Πειραιά με υδροπλάνα, καθένα από το οποίο θα μπορεί να μεταφέρει 21 άτομα συνολικά. Η διάρκεια της διαδρομής από το λιμάνι του Βόλου μέχρι τη μαρίνα του Φλοίσβου θα είναι 40 λεπτά, ενώ το εισιτήριο υπολογίζεται ότι θα διαμορφωθεί στα 50 ευρώ περίπου.

Σύμφωνα πάντα με τους εκπροσώπους της εταιρείας, έχουν κατατεθεί στα αρμόδια υπουργεία όλα τα απαραίτητα δικαιολογητικά και η αδειοδότηση βρίσκεται σε τελικό στάδιο. Η εταιρεία σχεδιάζει τη δρομολόγηση δύο υδροπλάνων σε καθημερινή βάση για τη σύνδεση Βόλου-Πειραιά, ενώ εξετάζει θετικά την πιθανότητα επέκτασης των δρομολογίων της γραμμής υδροπλάνων από το Βόλο τόσο προς Θεσσαλονίκη όσο και προς τα νησιά των Βορείων Σποράδων.

Η Νομαρχιακή Αυτοδιοίκηση Μαγνησίας δεν μπορεί να συμμετάσχει ως εταίρος στο σχήμα, ενώ οι δήμοι Βόλου, Σκιάθου, Σκοπέλου και Αλοννήσου έχουν συζητήσει και καταλήξει σε συμφωνία με την εταιρεία Argo στο πλαίσιο του καθεστώτος περί συμπράξεων δημόσιου-ιδιωτικού τομέα.

Source: www.naftemporiki.gr

Not looking well at all. So far, the only confirmed binding offer came from new start up "Athens Airways", as joint bid with American charter company "SkyOne". The other 2 binding bids are rumored to have come from a Slovakian Low Cost Airline, and another American charter company.

In my opinion, the Greek government should have sold OA to "Olympic Investors" a couple of years back. They had a great business plan for OA, including renewing the fleet and starting up new long haul destinations. The only reason it fell apart, was because they did not want to pay OA's debt. (Which is now cleared up with the new EC plan)



FROM: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/04/business/EU-Greece-Olympic-Airlines.php
Greece: Olympic Airlines bids unsatisfactory

The Associated Press
Published: February 4, 2009

ATHENS, Greece: Greece said Wednesday it had not received satisfactory bids for debt-ridden Olympic Airlines, but would renew the privatization effort through direct talks with interested investors.

A Finance Ministry statement said the government decided not to accept the bids for Olympic's flight operations, ground handling and technical maintenance, which were "lower compared to independent estimates."

It said the highest bid tabled for the flight operations was €24.5 million (US$31.5 million), from Athens Airways, while the minimum evaluation was €45.7 million (US$58.7 million).

"The government will continue the privatization process ... through an open public proposal to business groups" through direct negotiations, the statement said. It said Greece would seek EU approval for its new effort.

Development Minister Costis Hadzidakis said Greece is not prepared to privatize the company "at any price offered."

He said the new sale effort would go ahead despite the global economic crisis, as "there is no leeway for postponement."

"Our steady aim is to privatize Olympic," Hadzidakis said. "It is the only way to confront a chronic problem that places a burden on the taxpayers and has led to many legal complications between Greece and the European Union."

He said the new effort would particularly target Greek businessmen.

The announcement followed a meeting of a government committee handling the Olympic sale — which is Greece's sixth effort to privatize the national carrier. The deadline for binding bids expired Jan. 30.

The government wants to liquidate Olympic and transfer most of its 8,100 staff to other public sector jobs. The new company will keep the Olympic name and logo.

Olympic Airlines has accumulated losses of around €2.7 billion (US$3.5 billion). In October, the EU approved Greece's plan to break up the airline and fully privatize it by the end of 2009. But the EU says Olympic must pay back state subsidies worth €850 million (US$1.1 billion).

The Finance Ministry said the bidders for the company's flight operations were Athens Airways and Chrysler Aviation. At the initial phase of the tender, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis had said Qatar Airways expressed interest in buying the airline.

For years, Greece supplied subsidies to the struggling national airline, which in 2001 had debts totaling some €120 million (US$154 million). In 2003, the government incorporated the assets of debt-ridden Olympic Airways and two subsidiaries into the renamed Olympic Airlines.



From: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSL435058720090204

Greece says tender for Olympic Airlines sale failed
Wed Feb 4, 2009 2:58pm EST

ATHENS, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Greece said on Wednesday a tender for the sale of its ailing carrier Olympic Airlines [OLY.UL] has failed and called Greek businessmen to buy the carrier.

"The result of the tender was not what we had expected," Development Minister Costis Hatzidakis told reporters after a government's privatisations committee meeting.

"The bids that were submitted do not meet our demands," Hatzidakis said. "We are addressing an open proposal to Greek business groups for the sale of Olympic through immediate negotiations."

The deadline for the submission of binding offers in Olympic's privatisation tender expired Jan 30.

Greece's conservative government split the loss-making carrier into three units -- flying, aircraft maintenance and ground handling -- last September and launched a tender to sell them to privatise them. (Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas)

MIG interested in Olympic


Eνδιαφέρον για την Ολυμπιακή εκδήλωσε σήμερα η MIG ανταποκρινόμενη στην έκκληση της Διυπουργικής Επιτροπής Αποκρατικοποιήσεων.

Ακολουθεί η ανακοίνωση της MIG:

Στη σημερινή κρίσιμη για την πατρίδα μας οικονομική συγκυρία η συνέχεια της λειτουργίας της ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗΣ είναι αποφασιστικής σημασίας για τον τουρισμό, την απασχόληση, την ψυχολογία όλων μας και το κύρος της Ελλάδας στη διεθνή επενδυτική κοινότητα. Η ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗ είναι ένα κομμάτι τις ιστορίας μας και της ζωής μας και θέλουμε να υπάρχει και να μας ξανακάνει υπερήφανους.
Γι'αυτούς τους λόγους η MIG αποφάσισε σήμερα να ανταποκριθεί στην έκκληση της Διυπουργικής Επιτροπής Αποκρατικοποιήσεων και είναι έτοιμη να προσέλθει σε απ'ευθείας διαπραγματεύσεις ώστε η ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗ να συνεχίσει να λειτουργεί στα πλαίσια της ελληνικής επιχειρηματικότητας. Εφ'όσον οι διαπραγματεύσεις καταλήξουν σε συμφωνία προτιθέμεθα να παραχωρήσουμε οικειοθελώς στο Ελληνικό Δημόσιο τη δυνατότητα επανακρατικοποίησης της ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗΣ σε χρονικό διάστημα μέχρι και 3 μήνες μετά τη διεξαγωγή των επόμενων εκλογών.

Η σημερινή μας απόφαση ελπίζουμε να αντιμετωπισθεί σε αντιστοιχία με τις πραγματικές μας προθέσεις και πέρα από πολιτικές σκοπιμότητες. Είμαστε έτοιμοι και να συμπράξουμε στην διαδικασία αυτή, με οποιοδήποτε άλλο υγιή επιχειρηματικό ή επενδυτικό όμιλο επιθυμεί, αλλά και να αποσυρθούμε, εάν κάποιος άλλος Έλληνας σοβαρός ενδιαφερόμενος εξασφαλίσει την επιτυχία του εγχειρήματος και δεν επιθυμεί τη δική μας συμμετοχή.

Να σημειωθεί ότι μετά το τέλος των διαπραγματεύσεων την τελική απόφαση για την απόκτηση της ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΗΣ θα λάβει το Διοικητικό Συμβούλιο της MIG, σταθμίζοντας μεταξύ άλλων και την επίτευξη ή μη της επιθυμητής διακομματικής συναίνεσης, αλλά και την κοινωνική αποδοχή για τις εξελίξεις αυτές στον εθνικό μας αερομεταφορέα.

Source: www.naftemporiki.gr

The big bad capitalist is very intelligent. Let's see how (T)SYRIZA reacts to this news.

^^

It's not going to work if they react. They are going to loose many voters if they do...

If MIG plans to sell the airline back to Greece, that defeats the whole purpose of privatizing it and getting it debt free. The EU will never approve that.

Latter-day Onassis could rescue debt-laden Olympic Airlines

* Helena Smith in Athens
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 9 February 2009 18.51 GMT

After years of abortive attempts to sell off Olympic Airways – once the pride and joy of Aristotle Onassis – the Athens government hopes another Greek magnate will come to the rescue of the debt-ridden airline.

Less than a week after the collapse of an international attempt to privatise the loss-making airline, the ruling conservatives are praying that flamboyant former lawyer Andreas Vgenopoulos will pick up where Onassis left off.

Negotiations between the businessman and the government begin tomorrow and could end tortuous attempts to sell off Europe's last wholly state-owned airline. The company, renamed Olympic Airlines in 2006, has an accumulated debt of more than €2.7bn (£2.4bn). The long-awaited privatisation is a cornerstone of the government's economic reform programme.

"It is a white knight bid," said one national economic official, "and if it comes to fruition we'll all be heaving a sigh of relief."

Like Onassis, Vgenopoulos first made a fortune in shipping and is blessed with the Midas touch. Profits from his Marfin Investment Group (MIG), Greece's biggest buyout fund, have soared under his stewardship. The holding company's major shareholder is Dubai Financial Group. And just like Onassis, the 54-year-old entrepreneur also sees it as his patriotic duty to bolster the image of Greece.

Announcing its interest in acquiring Olympic, MIG said last week it was crucial that the company remained in Greek hands. Vgenopoulos emphasised that he was willing to offer the government the ability to re-nationalise the airline within three months of the next elections.

"In the critical and challenging economic environment that we are currently experiencing, the continuation of Olympic's operations is of vital importance to the Greek tourism industry, employment, national sentiment and Greece's status in the international investment community," MIG said.

With a workforce of more than 8,000 and more than 50 years' experience in the skies, Olympic, it insisted, was an "insepar*able part" of the country's history and identity.

"We all desire its continuing existence in order to … bolster our national pride again," the investment group added.

The prospect of Olympic being sold to a Greek has been greeted with euphoria in its home country. The acid-tongued Onassis famously called the airline "a bucket of shit" when he acquired it. But by the time he reluctantly sold it back to the state, Olympic was one of the world's flashiest airlines with pianists and silver cutlery considered de rigueur in first class.

MIG has an aggressive policy of investing in privatisations and the financial sector in the eastern Mediterranean.


Another article about the potential buyout by Marfin Investment Group.
Hopefully it goes through, and stays in Greek hands. That is, Greek hands with the money to spend.

^^

I hope they won't rename it Panathinaiki airways lol :D

Yeah I hope as well. I would never want Qatar airways (no offence) to buy it. Or whatever that is...

I don't think it will go through. The European Commission wouldn't allow it. Part of the current plan approved by the EC, stated that OA had to be sold and downsized (Well actually close OA and establish "Pantheon Airways", and then rename it OA -- but basically the same thing) in order to erase the debt it owes. But this plan with Marfin basically lets the Greek Government sell OA, and then re-buy it back later on. I don't think the EC is that dumb to let this go through. It would basically let the Greek government use a loop hole. I am also for keeping OA in Greek hands, but this plan looks failed from the beginning unless something is changed.

^^

Will see... The only thing that I would like though is Olympic airways stays in Greek hands...

^^

Will see... The only thing that I would like though is Olympic airways stays in Greek hands...

I think MIG knows a lot of people in Greece have the same sentiments as you described in your post, I think it is abusing this sentiment to gain a favourable position in the process. It is my opinion that with that much money involved, "patriotism" is an emotion that cannot be found in the decision making process of any businessman.

Only profit and return.

As the article mentions, the biggest shareholder is Dubai. My dream for Olympic would be a takeover by Lufthansa or AF-KLM, though Im quite aware sadly succesful organisations like those have no wish to do so.

Basically if MIG buys OA and then sells it back to the Greek Government, OA will still be in the same mess it is today a couple years down the line. Nothing will change. One of the points of privatization is to cut out all of the fat from OA and make it a profitable company. But with government ownership again, there will just be more cash injections in the future......

^^ Exactly, sounds to me like an accounting trick.

What Olympic needs is to be linked to an existing profitable network, with a big pan-european giant like Lufthansa/AF-KLM/IB-BA, and profit from it.

Athens lost its chance to become a regional hub. The incompetent way Olympic is being handled by the government but also the employees made sure Ataturk Airport took that spot.

Consolidation is hapening all over the world in the aviation business. In a few years there will be only a few large organisation left- > Oneworld, Skyteam and Star Alliance. I cant see how the boys and girls at MIG and the government are tackling these developments.

Olympic is a lame duck. Put it out of its misery. Aegean should buy some longhaul planes. They already have an agreement with Lufthansa. They DO have a future... if Olympic stops blocking them:

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/5442/large500243ll2.jpg (http://img172.imageshack.us/my.php?image=large500243ll2.jpg)

FROM: FROM: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/02/13/afx6050585.html


UPDATE 2-Greece gets last-minute offers for Olympic Air
02.13.09, 11:50 AM EST

By Lefteris Papadimas and George Georgiopoulos

ATHENS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Greece received binding offers for its state Olympic Airlines from buyout firm Marfin and airport services firm Swissport, in a surprise response to its last-ditch effort to rescue the debt-ridden carrier.
Article Controls

The Greek government appealed to Greek businessmen last week to step in after a much-heralded privatisation process failed to attract satisfactory bids or big names in the airline business as the global crisis hit the sector.

Marfin Investment Group (MIG), Greece's largest buyout firm, came forward last week after an international tender expired in January with no satisfactory offers. MIG's major shareholder is Dubai Financial Group.

'The government's advisers received today a binding offer of 45.7 million euros by MIG to acquire assets related to Olympic's flying operations and 16.7 million for assets of its technical base,' Development Minister Costis Hatzidakis said in a statement.

Hatzidakis said Swissport, an airport services subsidiary of Spain's Ferrovial, had also submitted a binding offer of 44.8 million euros for Olympic's ground handling unit.

Greece has wrangled for years with Brussels over state aid to Olympic. Its latest attempt to sell the carrier was approved by the European Commission, which agreed to suspend action over illegal state aid if the sale went ahead.

Athens split loss-making Olympic into three units -- flying, ground handling, and aircraft maintenance -- last September to help with the sale.
Related Stories

'The fact that Olympic will be sold is good news no matter what the price,' said an analyst with an Athens securities firm who requested anonymity. 'The fact that there is interest in such a tough environment, with airlines expecting a drop in bookings due to the crisis, is positive.'

The offers to the government amounted to a total of 177.2 million euros, the Minister Hatzidakis said.

'The government decided to continue exclusive talks with the interested companies for three weeks without prejudging the final outcome,' he said. 'The government's goal is a healthy privatisation of Olympic.'

Lazard, Alpha Bank, Emporiki Bank and NBG International are advising the government on the sale.

Founded in 1957 by the late shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, Olympic steadily declined after decades in state hands. Last year, its private Greek competitor Aegean Airlines for the first time carried more passengers -- 5.97 million -- than the state carrier.

(Editing by Karen Foster)

The plan sounds interesting. And I especially like the idea of all new planes and such. And Swissport is a great company.

But I don't like the proposal to sell OA back to the Greek government after the next election if the Greek government wishes to buy it. That to me sounds like a trick to fool the European Commission. And doing that, would not make a stronger OA, but would just stretch out this story.

Lets see what will happen.








FROM: http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=112,id=85683940

ΓΙΑ ΠΤΗΤΙΚΟ ΕΡΓΟ ΚΑΙ ΤΕΧΝΙΚΗ ΒΑΣΗ * ΣΥΝΑΝΤΗΣΗ ΠΑΠΑΝΔΡΕΟΥ - ΒΓΕΝΟΠΟΥΛΟΥ

Ο.Α.: 122,4 εκ. ευρώ δίνει η MIG

Των ΑΡΙΣΤΕΑΣ ΜΠΟΥΓΑΤΣΟΥ, ΝΙΚΟΥ ΜΟΥΜΟΥΡΗ

Με 122,4 εκατ. ευρώ στο τραπέζι η MIG ζητεί το πτητικό έργο και την τεχνική βάση της Ολυμπιακής, αφήνοντας χώρο στη Swissport για τη δραστηριότητα της επίγειας εξυπηρέτησης.

Χθες η επενδυτική εταιρεία κατέθεσε στους συμβούλους του Δημοσίου τη δεσμευτική της πρόταση για την απόκτηση:

-Των δικαιωμάτων χρήσης για τις «χρονοθυρίδες» προσαπογείωσης (slots), που διατηρούν οι Ολυμπιακές Αερογραμμές σε έξι διεθνή αεροδρόμια της Ευρώπης και των ΗΠΑ και του δικαίωματος χρήσης του ιστορικού λογοτύπου των Ο.Α. (οι γνωστοί έξι κύκλοι), αντί 45,7 εκατ. ευρώ.

- Του μετοχικού κεφαλαίου της Pantheon Airways, ύψους 60 εκατ. ευρώ

- Του δικαιώματος χρήσης της τεχνικής βάσης και των συναφών αδειών της Ολυμπιακής Αεροπορίας-Υπηρεσίες στα Σπάτα, αντί 16,7 εκατ.

Η MIG απέσυρε το ενδιαφέρον που είχε αρχικά εκδηλώσει για τον τομέα της επίγειας εξυπηρέτησης, καθώς η Swissport, η οποία είχε προσφέρει 33 εκατ. στον πρόσφατο άγονο διαγωνισμό, βελτίωσε την πρότασή της στα 44,8 εκατ.

Αθροιζόμενες οι προτάσεις των δύο εταιρειών ανέρχονται στο ύψος των 167,2 εκατ. ευρώ, όση ακριβώς είναι η αποτίμηση που έχει κάνει το Δημόσιο συν τα κεφάλαια της Pantheon.

Σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες, η MIG έχει ζητήσει το Δημόσιο να λειτουργήσει τις εταιρείες μέχρι τη λήξη της θερινής περιόδου (ξεκινά τον Απρίλιο και λήγει τον Οκτώβριο), ώστε η ίδια να προχωρήσει στην επιλογή αεροσκαφών και προσωπικού και να έχει τον απαιτούμενο χρόνο για να συντάξει το δικό της επιχειρησιακό σχέδιο.

Ο συγκεκριμένος όρος θα αποτελέσει αντικείμενο διαπραγμάτευσης, αν και κυβερνητικοί παράγοντες ισχυρίζονται ότι για το θέμα έχει ήδη ενημερωθεί η Κομισιόν, που δεν έχει εκφράσει αντιρρήσεις.

Η επενδυτική εταιρεία δεν προτίθεται να αποκτήσει τα 18 γερασμένα αεροσκάφη των Ο.Α., η μέση ηλικία των οποίων αγγίζει τα 20 έτη. Αντίθετα, επιλέγει να σχεδιάσει το στόλο και τις υπηρεσίες της νέας εταιρείας από μηδενική βάση, με δεδομένη και την υπερπροσφορά αεροσκαφών στη διεθνή αγορά. Η μέση τιμή για ενοικίαση αεροπλάνων μεσαίων αποστάσεων και ηλικίας 5 ετών κυμαίνεται μεταξύ 250 και 300 χιλιάδων δολαρίων μηνιαίως, ενώ για ελαφρώς παλαιότερα αεροπλάνα η τιμή πέφτει ακόμα και κάτω από τα 200.000 δολάρια.

Εκτιμάται ότι οι δύο εταιρείες θα ζητήσουν από την κυβέρνηση, οι συμβάσεις μεταβίβασης των πωλούμενων στοιχείων της Ολυμπιακής να κυρωθούν από τη Βουλή, όπως συνέβη σε παλαιότερες αποκρατικοποιήσεις (ΟΤΕ, λιμάνια κ.τ.λ.). Επίσης, η MIG ζήτησε, συνάμα με την κατάθεση της δεσμευτικής της πρότασης, να υπάρξει περίοδος αποκλειστικής διαπραγμάτευσης με το Δημόσιο μέχρι τις 9 Μαρτίου, προφανώς για να διασφαλίσει πως δεν θα εμφανιστεί έτερος... μνηστήρας.

*Την πρόταση του ΠΑΣΟΚ για ένα σχέδιο διάσωσης της Ολυμπιακής με τη συνεργασία κρατικών και ιδιωτικών κεφαλαίων επανέλαβε, χθες, ο πρόεδρος του ΠΑΣΟΚ Γιώργος Παπανδρέου στον επικεφαλής του ομίλου MIG Ανδρέα Βγενόπουλο, χωρίς ν' αποκλείσει τη δυνατότητα στρατηγικού επενδυτή. Η συνάντηση έγινε στα γραφεία του ΠΑΣΟΚ και την είχε ζητήσει ο κ. Βγενόπουλος, προκειμένου να τον ενημερώσει για τα σχέδιά του σε σχέση με την προσφορά που έχει υποβάλει. Θυμίζουμε ότι ο Βγενόπουλος, στην ανακοίνωση με την οποία γνωστοποιούσε την πρόθεσή του σχετικά με την Ολυμπιακή, είχε αναφέρει ότι σε περίπτωση που μετά τις εκλογές η κυβέρνηση που θα προκύψει θελήσει την επανακρατικοποίηση της Ολυμπιακής, αυτός είναι διατεθειμένος μέσα σε διάστημα τριών μηνών να διαπραγματευτεί την επιστροφή των μετοχών. Η επισήμανσή του αυτή έχει σχέση με ενδεχόμενη εκλογική νίκη του ΠΑΣΟΚ, το οποίο έχει ταχθεί κατά της πλήρους ιδιωτικοποίησης της εταιρείας. *


ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΟΤΥΠΙΑ - 14/02/2009




FROM: http://www.megatv.com/articles.asp?catid=14543&subid=2&tag=11107&pubid=1459751 (Video news report version on site)

"MIG" - "SWISSPORT" για Ολυμπιακή

Δεσμευτικές προσφορές υπέβαλαν την Παρασκευή, ο όμιλος "MIG" και η εταιρεία "SWISSPORT".

Ειδικότερα, η εταιρία "MIG" προσέφερε συνολικά 127,4 εκατομμύρια ευρώ για την απόκτηση του πτητικού έργου των ολυμπιακών αερογραμμών, της τεχνικής βάσης και για την εξαγορά των κεφαλαίων της εταιρίας "Πάνθεον".

Σύμφωνα με τα όσα δήλωσε ο υπουργός Ανάπτυξης Κωστής Χατζηδάκης υπάρχει αισιοδοξία για την πώληση της εταιρίας. Το αργότερο σε τρεις εβδομάδες θα έχει ολοκληρωθεί η διαπραγμάτευση για την πώληση της Ολυμπιακής.

"Η κυβέρνηση αποφάσισε να διεξάγει αποκλειστικές διαπραγματεύσεις -υποστήριξε ο Κωστής Χατζηδάκης- μέχρι και τρεις εβδομάδες, παράλληλα όμως είναι διατεθειμένη να συζητήσει την οποιαδήποτε άλλη πρόταση αξιόπιστου επενδυτή".

Λίγο μετά την ανακοίνωση της προσφοράς της, ο ισχυρός άνδρας της "MIG" Ανδρέας Βγενόπουλος συναντήθηκε με τον πρόεδρο του ΠΑΣΟΚ Γιώργο Παπανδρέου, καθώς η εταιρία επιδιώκει διακομματική συναίνεση για την εξαγορά της Ολυμπιακής.

"Ο κ. Παπανδρέου απ' ότι κατάλαβα -δήλωσε μετά τη συνάντηση ο αντιπρόεδρος της ΜIG-δεν επιθυμεί την Ολυμπιακή υπό κρατικό έλεγχο, πιστεύω ότι πρέπει να υπάρχουν κάποια μικτά σχήματα και συνεργασία μεταξύ ιδιωτών και κράτους. Αυτό εφόσον γίνει κυβέρνηση το ΠΑΣΟΚ, εμείς είμαστε ανοιχτοί".

Για την επίγεια εξυπηρέτηση της Ολυμπιακής εξεδήλωσε ενδιαφέρον η εταιρία "SWISSPORT", η οποία κατέθεσε προσφορά 49,8 εκατομμύρια ευρώ. Οι προσφορές που υποβλήθηκαν από τις δύο εταιρείες ισοδυναμούν με τις αποτιμήσεις των περιουσιακών στοιχείων της Ολυμπιακής που είχαν κάνει ανεξάρτητοι εκτιμητές κατ' εντολή του Δημοσίου.

Στα ταμεία του κράτους θα εισρεύσουν, αν τα τιμήματα τελικώς δεν αναπροσαρμοστούν, συνολικά 177,2 εκατομμύρια ευρώ ενώ προς πώληση παραμένουν και άλλα περιουσιακά στοιχεία του Εθνικού μας Αερομεταφορέα.

"Περιμένουμε φερέγγυες και αξιόπιστες λύσεις από την κυβέρνηση -επιμένει ο πρόεδρος τεχνικών της ΟΑ, Γιάννης Καλλιάνος- με στόχο βιωσιμότητα, λειτουργία και ανάπτυξη της Ολυμπιακής".

Κάθετα αντίθετο στην πώληση της Ολυμπιακής είναι το Κ.Κ.Ε. το οποίο σε ανακοίνωσή του αναφέρει ότι, "Ιδιωτικοποίηση υγιής και προς όφελος του λαού δεν υπάρχει. Ανεξάρτητα από την τιμή της Ολυμπιακής και σε ποιον κεφαλαιοκράτη την παραδίδει η κυβέρνηση, η ιδιωτικοποίησή της είναι μια αρνητική εξέλιξη για το λαό".

It is a trick alright but not to fool the EC but to fool the opposition parties, the so called ελάσσονος αντιπολίτευση. Given budgetary restraints any Greek government which will be in power after the next elections will not be able to afford a buy back of Olympic!

Encouraging news

Στη στελέχωση της αεροπορικής εταιρείας που με όχημα την ΠANΘEON θα αντικαταστήσει τις Oλυμπιακές Aερογραμμές προχωρεί ήδη ο Όμιλος της MIG, παρά το γεγονός ότι οι διαπραγματεύσεις με τους συμβούλους της κυβέρνησης για την εξαγορά του Oμίλου της O.A. αναμένεται να ολοκληρωθούν σε περίπου δύο εβδομάδες.

"Η" 25/2

Στη στελέχωση της αεροπορικής εταιρείας που με όχημα την ΠANΘEON θα αντικαταστήσει τις Oλυμπιακές Aερογραμμές προχωρεί ήδη ο Όμιλος της MIG, παρά το γεγονός ότι οι διαπραγματεύσεις με τους συμβούλους της κυβέρνησης για την εξαγορά του Oμίλου της O.A. αναμένεται να ολοκληρωθούν σε περίπου δύο εβδομάδες.

Όπως ανακοίνωσε χθες η MIG προχώρησε ήδη στην πρόσληψη δύο στελεχών από την ελληνική αεροπορική αγορά, τα οποία θα αναλάβουν την επεξεργασία των σχεδίων του Oμίλου στον τομέα των αερομεταφορών.

Πρόκειται για τους A. Συμιγδαλά και Σ. Δαλιάκα που προσλήφθηκαν στην εταιρεία αερομεταφορών του Oμίλου. Σύμφωνα με την ανακοίνωση του Oμίλου ο κ. Συμιγδαλάς θα αναλάβει την ανώτερη εκτελεστική θέση στην εταιρεία αερομεταφορών του Oμίλου.

Eίναι από τους ιδρυτές της Aegean Aviation και της Aegean Airlines και την περίοδο 1988 έως το 2009 κατείχε ανώτερες διοικητικές θέσεις. Aπό το 2004 είναι ο εκλεγμένος πρόεδρος της Ένωσης Aεροπορικών Eταιρειών Eυρωπαϊκών Περιφερειών. O κ. Στ. Δαλιάκας αναμένεται να αναλάβει εμπορικός διευθυντής στην εταιρεία αερομεταφορών του Oμίλου.

Έχει διατελέσει στέλεχος της Ο.Α από την οποία αποχώρησε το 1998 ως γενικός διευθυντής πωλήσεων και υπήρξε από τα πρώτα και βασικά στελέχη της Aegean, της οποίας ήταν ο εμπορικός διευθυντής μέχρι πρόσφατα.



Source: www.imerisia.gr

Even more encouraging:

H MIG στελεχώνει ήδη την Ολυμπιακή

Τις προθέσεις του για τον τρόπο που θα κινηθεί στην αγορά των αερομεταφορών, μετά την απόκτηση των Ολυμπιακών Αερογραμμών δείχνει ο αντιπρόεδρος της Marfin Investment Group (MIG), κ. Ανδρέας Βγενόπουλος, με την πρόσληψη υψηλόβαθμων στελεχών από την ανταγωνίστρια Aegean Airlines [AGNr.AT] Σχετικά άρθρα .

Την πρόσληψη των κ. Αντώνη N. Συμιγδαλά και Σταύρου Δαλιάκα στο επιτελείο που ανέλαβε την επεξεργασία των σχεδίων της εταιρείας στον τομέα των αερομεταφορών ανακοίνωσε χθες η MIG.

Ο κ. Συμιγδαλάς αναμένεται να αναλάβει την ανώτερη εκτελεστική θέση στην εταιρεία αερομεταφορών του ομίλου. Είναι από τους ιδρυτές της Aegean Aviation και της Aegean Airlines και την περίοδο από το 1988 έως το 2009 κατείχε ανώτερες διοικητικές θέσεις μεταξύ των οποίων του γενικού διευθυντή καθώς και του εκτελεστικού μέλους του Διοικητικού Συμβουλίου. Από το 2004 είναι ο εκλεγμένος πρόεδρος της Ένωσης Αεροπορικών Εταιρειών Ευρωπαϊκών Περιφερειών.

Ο κ. Συμιγδαλάς σπούδασε στο Πανεπιστήμιο Cranfield από το οποίο έχει Master με ειδίκευση στη Διοίκηση Αεροπορικών Μεταφορών. Είναι μέλος της Royal Aeronautical Society, του Chartered Institute of Transport στη Μεγάλη Βρετανία, του Συλλόγου Ελλήνων Συγκοινωνιολόγων, πρώην αντιπρόεδρος του Flight Safety Foundation (Τμήμα ΝΑ Ευρώπης), εξουσιοδοτημένος διερευνητής αεροπορικών ατυχημάτων και χειριστής αεροσκαφών από το 1978.

Ο κ. Σταύρος Δαλιάκας αναμένεται να αναλάβει εμπορικός διευθυντής στην εταιρεία αερομεταφορών του ομίλου. Έχει διατελέσει στέλεχος της Ολυμπιακής Αεροπορίας από την οποία αποχώρησε το 1998 ως γενικός διευθυντής πωλήσεων και υπήρξε από τα πρώτα και βασικά στελέχη της Aegean Airlines της οποίας ήταν ο εμπορικός διευθυντής μέχρι πρόσφατα. Είναι απόφοιτος της ΑΣΟΕΕ με εμπειρία στον αεροπορικό τομέα και γνώστης των ελληνικών τουριστικών θεμάτων.

Τέλος, σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες, πολύ σύντομα αναμένεται να ανακοινωθεί και το όνομα του επικεφαλής της τεχνικής βάσης της Ολυμπιακής, για την οποία έχει εκδηλώσει ενδιαφέρον και βρίσκεται σε αποκλειστικές διαπραγματεύσεις η ΜΙG.

Φ.Ζ.

Source: http://www.naftemporiki.gr/news/static/09/02/25/1633865.htm

CHECK THIS OUT

http://www.athensairways.com/cgi-bin/airkiosk/I7/181002i?ZF=2&LANG=GR

Are they actually flying???

Ο ΣΤΟΛΟΣ ΜΑΣ

EMBRAER ERJ-145

http://www.athensairways.com/athens/I7/GR/images/photo_company_planes_0.jpg

Σημείο αναφοράς όλων των δραστηριοτήτων της Athens Airways είναι η ασφαλής μεταφορά των επιβατών. Συνεπώς, πρωταρχικός άξονας είναι τόσο η συντήρηση των αεροσκαφών και των συστημάτων ασφαλείας όσο και η συνεχής εκπαίδευση των πληρωμάτων και των τεχνικών της Athens Airways.

Η Athens Airways εμπιστεύτηκε τη βραζιλιάνικη εταιρεία EMBRAER, ακολουθώντας το παράδειγμα πολλών ευρωπαϊκών και διεθνών εταιρειών. Η επιλογή των συγκεκριμένων αεροσκαφών ενισχύει το γεγονός ότι η Athens Airways επιθυμεί να παρέχει διακεκριμένες υπηρεσίες σε όλους τους επιβάτες που θα συνδυάζουν την ασφάλεια με την αισθητική.

Με τέσσερα υπερσύγχρονα αεροσκάφη τύπου τζετ 49 θέσεων, η Athens Airways σας προσφέρει την αίσθηση ότι πετάτε με το ιδιωτικό σας αεροπλάνο. Τα αεροσκάφη είναι ιδανικά για περιφερειακούς προορισμούς και χαρακτηρίζονται τόσο για τις υψηλές τους επιδόσεις όσο και για τα χαμηλά λειτουργικά κόστη τους. Είναι εξοπλισμένα με κινητήρες turbofan προσφέροντας στους επιβάτες μια ήρεμη και ευχάριστη πτήση ακόμα και σε δύσκολες καιρικές συνθήκες. Το πρώτο Embraer τζετ αεροσκάφος παραδόθηκε το 1996 και από τότε, περισσότερα από 600 αεροσκάφη έχουν παραδοθεί σε αεροπορικές εταιρείες σε όλο τον κόσμο.

Ο ΣΤΟΛΟΣ ΤΗΣ ATHENS AIRWAYS

Ο στόλος της Athens Airways αποτελείται από τέσσερα αεροσκάφη ERJ-145 της εταιρείας EMBRAER. Τα ERJs 145 είναι αεροσκάφη τύπου τζετ, 49 θέσεων, με Rolls Royce μηχανές και παράγουν όχι μόνο χαμηλά επίπεδα θορύβου αλλά και χαμηλά επίπεδα ατμοσφαιρικών ρύπων. Είναι αξιόπιστα, ευέλικτα και επιτρέπουν γρήγορα turn-arounds. Τα ERJs 145 είναι χαμηλού οικονομικού ρίσκου και χαρακτηρίζονται ως ιδανικά για περιφερειακούς προορισμούς.

Ο αριθμός των αεροσκαφών προβλέπεται να αυξηθεί μετά τον πρώτο χρόνο λειτουργίας, με σκοπό να εξυπηρετηθούν περισσότεροι προορισμοί τόσο του εσωτερικού όσο και του εξωτερικού.

I'm going to try these soon... :D

So Marfin is the front runner now? Nice.

:ohno:
I dont see how smartly this situation with olypic is being handled. If olympic is really losing 1 million euros per day, ti 100 ekatomiria ti 120.. If the state keeps taking this long to sell it, in 3 more months the company loses its value.

CHECK THIS OUT

http://www.athensairways.com/cgi-bin/airkiosk/I7/181002i?ZF=2&LANG=GR

Are they actually flying???



I'm going to try these soon... :D

They are. The strange thing is that you can not book several months in advance!

^^

And I think they are a bit expensive.

^^

And I think they are a bit expensive.

They don't seem too bad. If you book in advance, they have some flights for just 1 Euro. (Each way, plus taxes).

Σύντομα εξελίξεις στην Ολυμπιακή

http://www.naftemporiki.gr/news/static/09/02/27/olympic.jpg

Την ερχόμενη Παρασκευή αναμένεται να ολοκληρωθούν, σύμφωνα με τον ανακοινωθέν χρονοδιάγραμμα, οι διαπραγματεύσεις ανάμεσα στους συμβούλους της κυβέρνησης με τον Ομιλο MIG και την εταιρεία Swissport για την αποκρατικοποίηση των τριών εταιρειών της Ολυμπιακής Αεροπορίας

Ωστόσο, αίσθηση προκάλεσε η χθεσινή αναφορά εκπροσώπου του ΠΑΣΟΚ ότι υπάρχει και δεύτερος υποψήφιος επενδυτής για την Ο.Α. Σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες, υπήρξε πρόταση από την AirWorks (σχήμα επενδυτικών κεφαλαίων) η οποία όμως απορρίφθηκε από τους συμβούλους αποκρατικοποίησης.

Πάντως, το διάστημα των τριών εβδομάδων που είχε οριστεί προκειμένου να ολοκληρωθούν οι αποκλειστικές διαπραγματεύσεις μεταξύ των δύο πλευρών (κυβέρνησης - MIG) λήγει στο τέλος της επόμενης εβδομάδας και σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες η υπογραφή των συμφωνιών θα πρέπει πλέον, εκτός απρόοπτου, να θεωρείται θέμα χρόνου καθώς φαίνεται ότι οι συζητήσεις εξελίσσονται ιδιαίτερα ικανοποιητικές.

Σε ό,τι αφορά την επιχειρησιακή ετοιμότητα της Ολυμπιακής Αεροπορίας εν όψει Πάσχα αλλά και της θερινής περιόδου ο κ. Στυλιανίδης, αμέσως μετά τη συνάντηση που είχε χθες με τους διευθύνοντες συμβούλους των εταιρειών του Ομίλου της Ο.Α., τόνισε ότι θα εφαρμοστεί το πρόγραμμα που είχε ήδη ανακοινωθεί από πέρυσι τον Αύγουστο. Για την κάλυψη του θερινού προγράμματος της εταιρείας δεν πρόκειται να γίνουν ενοικιάσεις νέων αεροσκαφών.

Ερωτηθείς σχετικά με τις αναφορές του βουλευτή του ΠΑΣΟΚ κ. Τσιόκα ότι υπάρχει και δεύτερος υποψήφιος επενδυτής για την Ο.Α. τον οποίο η κυβέρνηση αποκρύπτει ο κ. Στυλιανίδης δεν θέλησε να κάνει κάποια δήλωση σημειώνοντας ότι την ευθύνη για το χειρισμό του θέματος έχει ο υπουργός Ανάπτυξης, Κωστής Χατζηδάκης.

Τέλος, ο υπουργός Μεταφορών ανέφερε ότι επισπεύδεται η υλοποίηση του σχεδίου εξυγίανσης του ΟΣΕ Tην πρόταση του ΠΑΣΟΚ για τη δημιουργία ενός μεικτού σχήματος με ιδιωτικά και κρατικά κεφάλαια για μια «αξιόπιστη» Ολυμπιακή Αεροπορία επανέλαβαν σε συνέντευξη Τύπου ο πολιτικός εκπρόσωπος του κόμματος για θέματα Μεταφορών και Επικοινωνιών, Νίκος Σηφουνάκης και ο υφηγητής ΚΤΕ του τομέα, Χάρης Τσιόκας.

source: http://www.naftemporiki.gr/news/static/09/02/27/1635153.htm

*


At first it looked like it was a done deal for Marfin - Now Chrysler is at the forefront.. for the moment.


From Athens News:

Chrysler Aviation, the California corporation, has upgraded its offer for the OA group to 210 million euros in total, Stelios Rapis, president of Chrysler, told this newspaper.

That number breaks down to 106m euros for Pantheon (aka Olympic Airlines), together with the ground-handling and maintenance company, he said. In addition, 104m euros will be pumped in for investment to expand and restructure the airline, he said.

Rapis wants to appoint new staff and also add new routes. "Hiring will be a priority. Australia [a former route no longer offered] will be served, while for New York-USA we will double the daily flights," he said, explaining this is all part of the new offer.

"Funding is approved and ready in favour of Chrysler Aviation from Garant Bank GmbH, Frankfurt," Rapis said.

"Chrysler has been operating worldwide with commercial jets since 1977. We have extensive knowledge, experience and the resources to restructure OA. We also own and operate most of our jets.

"We have the planes, know the subject-matter and can wait for the right time," he said.

Rapis added that the company is currently negotiating with other valuable partners. He noted that he is willing to listen to others with something to bring to the table but also said he welcomes competition. Rapis, a pilot for over 30 years and a Greek-American, is strongly committed to the deal and to the future of the airline, he said.

The US embassy is understood to have been in discussions with the transport ministry this week to talk about Chrysler's offer.





http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.prnt_article?e=C&f=13325&t=03&m=A20&aa=1


*

Hmmmm, sounds interesting, but I would rather want Swissport for the ground handling. (who have a reputation on that) Also, does anyone know any information about Chrysler Aviation?

Regarding his plans, they are ambitious. Australia was cut, because it wasn't making money at all. It was determined that even if the plane was 100 percent full, it was still losing money. And this is when fuel prices were low. Almost no other European carrier flies to Australia anymore for the same reason. As for New York plans, there is already a ton of capacity on the route. Can it sustain 2 daily flights year round? Continental Airlines went seasonal this year.

Also, I don't really see a plan to upgrade the aging fleet. It only mentions expansion. At least with MIG, they planned on buying a new fleet.

Anyway, let's see what the outcome will be. We for sure do not know all the details yet.

FROM: http://uk.reuters.com/article/privateEquityFinancialServicesAndRealEstate/idUKL341443020090303


UPDATE 1-Marfin near deal to buy Olympic Air -source
Tue Mar 3, 2009 1:33pm GMT

Deal expected to be finalised Thursday
Agreement to be settled at meeting with govt officials

(Adds background, quotes)

ATHENS, March 3 (Reuters) - Greece's biggest buyout company Marfin Investent Group (MIG) (MRFr.AT) expects to close a deal to acquire the troubled Olympic Airlines from the Greek government this week, a senior MIG official said on Tuesday.

A deal to sell the loss-making carrier will end strains on the government's budget and wrangling with the EU over illegal subsidies.

MIG came forward in early February after an international tender expired in January without satisfactory offers.

"We are close to a deal, which is expected to be finalised this Thursday at a meeting with government representatives," the MIG source said.

A government official, who declined to be named, also told Reuters the two sides were close to reaching a deal.

"There is no other candidate buyer for the flying operations of Olympic," said the official, who declined to be named.

The government appealed to Greek businesses last month to step in after a tender to privatise the ailing carrier failed to attract big names or high bids as the global crisis hits the airline sector.

Greece has wrangled for years with Brussels over state aid to Olympic. Its latest attempt to sell the airline was approved by the European Commission, which agreed to suspend action over illegal state aid if the sale went ahead.

Athens split Olympic into three units -- flying, ground handling and aircraft maintenance -- last September to facilitate the sale.

Marfin submitted a 45.7 million euro bid in mid-February for Olympic's flying operations and 16.7 million for its technical base, the government said. Swissport, a subsidiary of Spain's Ferrovial (FER.MC),bid for the ground handling unit.

Founded in 1957 by the late shipping tycoon Aristolte Onassis, Olympic steadily declined after decades in state hands. (Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Writing by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by David Holmes)


Interesting that a source stated that there is no deal, as there was an article posted about about Chrysler Aviation upping their bid. :nuts:

Προτάσεις από Aegean και Chrysler Aviation για την Ολυμπιακή

Πρόταση για την αγορά των περιουσιακών στοιχείων που σχετίζονται με το πτητικό έργο της Ολυμπιακής ύψους 90 εκατ. ευρώ και των περιουσιακών στοιχείων της τεχνικής βάσης ύψους 20 εκατ. ευρώ υπέβαλε η Aegean Airlines [AGNr.AT] .

Παράλληλα διατίθεται να εξαγοράσει την Πάνθεον στην καθαρή αξία των ιδίων κεφαλαίων της που υπολογίζονται σε 60 εκατ. ευρώ.

Όπως επισημαίνεται σε ανακοίνωση της εταιρείας, στόχος της Aegean και των μετόχων της είναι «η δημιουργία μίας ισχυρότερης ελληνικής αεροπορικής εταιρείας με το απαραίτητο κρίσιμο μέγεθος, ώστε να μπορεί να σταθεί με ακόμη μεγαλύτερες προοπτικές στον διεθνή ανταγωνισμό στο πλαίσιο του ενιαίου Ευρωπαϊκού χώρου».

Σε περίπτωση που η πρόταση της Aegean τύχει της αποδοχής του Ελληνικού δημοσίου, η εταιρεία δηλώνει διατεθειμένη «να παραχωρήσει μέρος της δραστηριότητας εσωτερικού ώστε να ενισχυθεί περαιτέρω ο υπάρχων ανταγωνισμός στην εγχώρια αγορά, στην οποία ήδη αλλωστε έχουν ενταχθεί πρόσφατα νέοι παίκτες».

Πρόταση και από Chrysler Aviation

Προσφορά για την εξαγορά του συνόλου του ομίλου της Ολυμπιακής (Πάνθεον, επίγεια εξυπηρέτηση και Τεχνική Βάση), ύψους 210 εκ. ευρώ, υπέβαλε σήμερα και η ιδιωτική αεροπορική εταιρεία Chrysler Aviation.

Όπως αναφέρεται σε σχετική ανακοίνωση, «η εταιρεία μας ανακοινώνει ότι θα καταθέσει προσφορά και για την εξαγορά των υπολοίπων περιουσιακών στοιχείων του ομίλου της Ολυμπιακής.

Η Chrysler Aviation δεσμεύεται για την ανασυγκρότηση του ομίλου της Ολυμπιακής και την δημιουργία μίας επιτυχημένης αεροπορικής εταιρείας με την οποία όλοι μας θα νιώθουμε τιμή μας να πετάμε».

Source: www.naftemporiki.gr

Any developments on the Olympic sale and MIG?

And that article above is interesting.
So Aegean wants to buy some of Olympics assets?
And Chrysler Aviation wants to buy everything else and reform Olympic into a new airline?
Is this correct?

This is all I could find on Chrysler Aviation... http://www.flychrysler.com/
Unless they meant Daimler Chrysler Aviation..

MIG is saying that it is confident that it can close the transaction soon.

There bid has triggered the interest of both Aegean and Chrysler Aviation. Aegean is willing to buy the flying operations and the technical base. They have not expressed an interest for the handling operations. I do not think that this bid will succeed. It would create a dominant player on (at least) the domestic market and I do not think that this will get the approval of the European Commissionar of Competition or the Greek Epitropi Antagonismou.

Chrysler Aviation has indicated that is willing to buy all of Olympic. Lets see who will get Olympic in the end.

Πρόταση για την αγορά των περιουσιακών στοιχείων που σχετίζονται με το πτητικό έργο της Ολυμπιακής ύψους 90 εκατ. ευρώ και των περιουσιακών στοιχείων της τεχνικής βάσης ύψους 20 εκατ. ευρώ υπέβαλε η Aegean Airlines.

Παράλληλα διατίθεται να εξαγοράσει την Πάνθεον στην καθαρή αξία των ιδίων κεφαλαίων της που υπολογίζονται σε 60 εκατ. ευρώ.

Όπως επισημαίνεται σε ανακοίνωση της εταιρείας, στόχος της Aegean και των μετόχων της είναι «η δημιουργία μίας ισχυρότερης ελληνικής αεροπορικής εταιρείας με το απαραίτητο κρίσιμο μέγεθος, ώστε να μπορεί να σταθεί με ακόμη μεγαλύτερες προοπτικές στον διεθνή ανταγωνισμό στο πλαίσιο του ενιαίου Ευρωπαϊκού χώρου».

Σε περίπτωση που η πρόταση της Aegean τύχει της αποδοχής του Ελληνικού δημοσίου, η εταιρεία δηλώνει διατεθειμένη «να παραχωρήσει μέρος της δραστηριότητας εσωτερικού ώστε να ενισχυθεί περαιτέρω ο υπάρχων ανταγωνισμός στην εγχώρια αγορά, στην οποία ήδη αλλωστε έχουν ενταχθεί πρόσφατα νέοι παίκτες».

«Μπορούμε να αναλάβουμε το έργο σε 60 ημέρες»

«Για να μπορέσει να ανταγωνιστεί επιτυχώς στην Ευρώπη και διεθνώς, η Ελλάδα χρειάζεται έναν ισχυρό αερομεταφορέα, με μεγαλύτερο στόλο και ισχυρή χρηματοοικονομική διάρθρωση», δήλωσε ο διευθύνων σύμβουλος της Aegean Ευτύχιος Βασιλάκης σε συνέντευξη στο Reuters.

«Μπορούμε να αναλάβουμε το έργο σε 60 ημέρες», δήλωσε ο κ. Βασιλάκης λίγο μετά την ανακοίνωση της Aegean ότι κατέθεσε προσφορά για τον υπερχρεωμένο κρατικό αερομεταφορέα.

Πρόταση και από Chrysler Aviation

Προσφορά για την εξαγορά του συνόλου του ομίλου της Ολυμπιακής (Πάνθεον, επίγεια εξυπηρέτηση και Τεχνική Βάση), ύψους 210 εκ. ευρώ, υπέβαλε σήμερα και η ιδιωτική αεροπορική εταιρεία Chrysler Aviation.

Όπως αναφέρεται σε σχετική ανακοίνωση, «η εταιρεία μας ανακοινώνει ότι θα καταθέσει προσφορά και για την εξαγορά των υπολοίπων περιουσιακών στοιχείων του ομίλου της Ολυμπιακής.

Η Chrysler Aviation δεσμεύεται για την ανασυγκρότηση του ομίλου της Ολυμπιακής και την δημιουργία μίας επιτυχημένης αεροπορικής εταιρείας με την οποία όλοι μας θα νιώθουμε τιμή μας να πετάμε».

source: http://www.naftemporiki.gr/news/static/09/03/04/1636621.htm

Αegean: Διευκολύνουμε το Δημόσιο με μια δεύτερη αξιόπιστη πρόταση

«Το μεγάλο πλεονέκτημά μας είναι ότι έχουμε τη δυνατότητα να αναλάβουμε την εταιρεία μόλις δύο μήνες από τη στιγμή που θα υπογραφεί η συμφωνία» τόνισε, μεταξύ άλλων, μιλώντας στον ρ/σ Alpha 9,89 για την υποβληθείσα πρόταση για την Ολυμπιακή o αντιπρόεδρος της Aegean Ευτύχιος Βασιλάκης.

«Εμείς θεωρούμε ότι διευκολύνουμε το ελληνικό δημόσιο κάνοντας μια δεύτερη αξιόπιστη πρόταση από μια εταιρεία που έχει πετύχει στην Ελλάδα σε όλες τις παραμέτρους. Δεν αφαιρούμε τίποτα, αλλά προσθέτουμε και νομίζω ότι η κυβέρνηση πρέπει να αισθάνεται αρκετά επιτυχημένη με δεδομένο ότι στο τέλος Ιανουαρίου ήταν στο απόλυτο μηδέν ενώ τώρα έχει δύο προτάσεις και ίσως μια τρίτη» πρόσθεσε.

Αναφερόμενος στην προσφορά αυτή καθεαυτή, σημείωσε πως αφορά το πτητικό και την τεχνική βάση, δηλαδή, όπως ανέφερε, τα δύο κομμάτια του ομίλου για τα όποια έχει κάνει πρόταση και η MIG.

«Για το πτητικό και τα σλοτς η πρότασή μας είναι 90 εκατ., τα διπλάσια από τη ΜIG, για την τεχνική βάση η πρόταση μας είναι 20 εκατ. και για το τελευταίο κομμάτι που είναι η εξαγορά του κεφαλαίου της Πάνθεον, για ένα κεφάλαιο 60 εκατ., η προσφορά μας είναι 60 εκατ. Το άθροισμα αυτών των 3 είναι 170 εκατ συνολικά» συμπλήρωσε.

http://www.naftemporiki.gr/news/static/09/03/04/1636713.htm

^^

Εγω απο Aegean Airlines, MIG και Crystler Aviation προτιμώ την Aegean. Μου αρέσει η προοπτική μιας μεγάλης ενωμένης Ελληνικής εταιρίας που θα μπορέσει να σταθεί άξια απέναντι στους κολοσσούς της Ευρώπης.

Α!! Επίσης κέρδισε για 2η φορά τον τίτλο airline of the year (συνολικά 5 τίτλοι):

http://www.aegeanair.com/AegeanCMS/Uploads/Airline%20GOLD%20Award%20logo%2008-09%20HORIZONTAL%20Print%20(2).jpg

Aegean Airlines was named the Gold winner at the prestigious European Regions Airline Association, Airline of the Year awards ceremony at the 2008 General Assembly, in Manchester.

Mr. Theodoros Vassilakis said: “It’s a great honour to be recognized once more by European Regions Airline Association. Actually this is the fifth era award that we have won and I would like to express my thanks to the airline community of Europe and to the panel of judges for this distinction. This award makes our will to face the future even stronger. We would like to assure you that AEGEAN will continue implementing its long-term investment strategy, aiming to strengthen its overall presence and offer innovative services to its passengers”.

An international panel of experts mentioned the following points amongst its reasons for voting for AEGEAN:

• Aegean Airlines continues to expand its network and add new – more environmentally friendly – aircraft to its fleet whilst maintaining strong turnover and profit development.
• Aegean Airlines makes big achievements every year. The airline has very good fleet and crew utilization.
• Going public with the stock exchange listing is a major achievement for this airline.
• Aegean Airlines enjoys a high Level of customer satisfaction.

The ERA Airline of the Year Award is the most recognized Airline Award for this sector of the industry. The aim of the Airline of the Year Award is to recognize the best overall achievement in the previous 12 months by an ERA member airline based on specific achievements evaluated in the context of an individual airline’s operating conditions.

One of the major assets of the ERA Airline of the Year Award is the quality, independence and fairness of its judging procedure. The judging panel comprises a mix of industry's senior experts together with respected air transport journalists from all over Europe. Panellists are carefully selected for their knowledge and ability to assess achievements against the specific circumstances and constraints under which individual airlines operate.

ERA, is the only body representing the interests of the intra-European air transport industry in Europe. An association of over 200 companies, representing the entire industry, including 60 airlines, 25 airports and over 100 associate and affiliate members comprising aircraft & engine manufacturers, international & regional airports and avionic suppliers & service providers. ERA’s Airline members are operating to over 390 European cities in 55 countries with 1,100 aircraft.

Aegean Airlines is a full service airline, having a leading domestic position in Greece and a growing presence in international scheduled routes between Greece and destinations in Europe and neighbouring countries. The company offers its passengers premium services such as a dual-class cabin configuration, in-flight catering and reserved seating, while maintaining a lean cost structure. Aegean Airlines is also a Regional Partner of Lufthansa providing access for its passengers to Lufthansa’s global network.

http://www.aegeanair.com/AegeanCMS/Uploads/ERA2008_4939.jpg

source: http://www.aegeanair.com/default.aspx

Awards

* Bronze Award: Airline of the Year - 2000/2001
* Gold Award: Airline of the Year - 2004/2005
* Silver Award: Airline of the Year - 2006/2007
* ERA's Palme d'Or award - 2007
* Gold Award: Airline of the year - 2008/2009

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegean_Airlines

Double Post :D

I am very skeptical of aegean's late bid for olympic. They chose to remain out of the bidding process because they weren't interested in buying olympic.
Now that MIG showed it's interest they suddenly want to buy it as well?

I'm not sure, but I believe they just want to slow the process in order to buy more time until they better establish their routes and they get all the remaining new planes.

I would really love to see a BIG greek airline, but I believe that the Greek competition bureau won't accept such a deal. It would be a monopoly and I don't think it would be beneficial for us, the fliers.

I do not think that this bid will succeed. It would create a dominant player on (at least) the domestic market and I do not think that this will get the approval of the European Commissionar of Competition or the Greek Epitropi Antagonismou.

The Alitalia/Air One merger in Italy passed under similar circumstances.

In fact, a quote from an article about the bid:
"Aegean is hoping that the recent merger of Alitalia and Air One in Italy will provide support with the competition authorities for its own deal in Greece."
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/892051d8-08f8-11de-b8b0-0000779fd2ac.html

I am very skeptical of aegean's late bid for olympic. They chose to remain out of the bidding process because they weren't interested in buying olympic.
Now that MIG showed it's interest they suddenly want to buy it as well?

If I recall correctly, Aegean had bid for Olympic back in 2005 or whenever Greece was trying to sell Olympic again, but Olympic's unions opposed the plan. With this new plan, via Pantheon, Aegean can bypass the unions. But that still doest not answer the question on why they chose to bid so late.....But then again, the same could be asked about MIG....

Some more news reports about the offers, the second includes information on why Aegean supposedly decided to bid:


FROM: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/04/business/EU-Greece-Olympic-Aegean.php

Greece's Aegean Airlines bids for ailing Olympic
Published: March 4, 2009

ATHENS, Greece: Greece's Aegean Airlines on Wednesday offered €170 million ($214 million) to buy debt-ridden state carrier Olympic Airlines.

The offer came a month after the conservative government made a public appeal for investors to rescue Olympic, following a previous tender that failed to attract sufficiently high bids.

State television said U.S.-based Chrysler Aviation also submitted a €210 million offer for Olympic on Wednesday. Greece's Marfin Investment Group, or MIG, and Swissport have already tabled separate bids.

Development Minister Costis Hadzidakis welcomed the new bids, which he said would be duly examined.

"We are doing everything in broad daylight, with respect to the laws and transparency," he said.

Aegean, which is Olympic's main competitor in Greece's domestic routes, said it was interested in buying the carrier's flight operations, technical maintenance and a company set up by the government to succeed Olympic.

An Aegean statement said it was prepared to "concede part of its domestic operations, in order to further strengthen competition."

Responding to the government's appeal last month, MIG offered a total €62.4 million for Olympic's flight operations and technical maintenance. Swissport has also submitted a binding €44.8 million bid for Olympic's ground handling services.

The government wants to liquidate Olympic — which has accumulated losses of around €2.7 billion ($3.41 billion) — and transfer most of its 8,100 staff to other public sector jobs. The new company will keep the Olympic name and logo.

Last year, the European Union approved Greece's plan to break up and fully privatize Olympic by the end of 2009.

For years, Greece subsidized the struggling national airline, which in 2001 had debts totaling some €120 million ($151.4 million). In 2003, the government incorporated the assets of debt-ridden Olympic Airways and two subsidiaries into the renamed Olympic Airlines.



FROM: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/892051d8-08f8-11de-b8b0-0000779fd2ac.html

Aegean bids to acquire Olympic
By Kevin Done
Published: March 4 2009 22:28 | Last updated: March 4 2009 22:28

Aegean Airlines, the Athens-listed Greek carrier, on Wednesday launched a €170m takeover bid for the troubled state-owned Olympic Airlines.

Aegean, which was formed in 1999 and last year carried more passengers than the Greek flag carrier for the first time, said it was seeking to develop a Greek airline with the “necessary critical size, strength and capability” to face competition in the single European market.

The acquisition would take it for the first time into long-haul markets with Olympic flying routes to the US, Canada, the Middle East and South Africa.

Aegean is competing against a rival bid from Greece’s Marfin Investment Group, led by Andreas Vgenopoulos, a flamboyant local entrepreneur, which started negotiations with the Greek government last month after an international tender collapsed.

The European Commission last year opened the way for Olympic’s privatisation by approving the write-off of more than €2.6bn in accumulated debt. It also suspended court action over the repayment of €850m in state aid.

Aegean said it was committed to taking over the operation within 60 days of signing an agreement with the government, which would save the state from hundreds of millions of euros of further operating losses, which would be incurred if the transaction was delayed.

It sought to allay competion fears and said it was ready to give up to rivals part of the operations of the enlarged group in the domestic Greek market.

It said the proposed merger of the two groups was a response to the growing wave of airline consolidation in Europe and was aimed at safeguarding “the long-term provision of competitive high-quality services from a Greek-based and owned airline”.

The two carriers combined would only account for 17 per cent of the total international traffic to and from Greece, with international flights accounting for 80 per cent of total Greek traffic.

The merged group would still be far less dominant than the main national carrier in most European markets, it said.

Aegean is hoping that the recent merger of Alitalia and Air One in Italy will provide support with the competition authorities for its own deal in Greece.

It carried 6m passengers last year and is in the midst of a $1.2bn four-year expansion programme to renew and expand its fleet with orders for 27 Airbus 320 family short-haul jets.

Marfin, an investment holding group listed on the Athens stock exchange, said last month it was committed to investing at least €200m to acquire Olympic and to restructure its operations.

It was the only group that responded to the government’s last-ditch call for a private Greek investor to rescue the airline, which has been losing an estimated €2m a day.

The government has set a minimum price of €110m for Olympic based on an independent valuation of its assets. It is keen to reach a deal quickly so that services can be upgraded by the start of the tourist season in April.

Marfin has cash reserves of €1.2bn following the sale last year of its minority stake in Hellenic Telecoms, the public operator, to Deutsche Telekom.

An opinion article from a tour guide specializing in Greece:

FROM: http://gogreece.about.com/b/2009/03/04/aegean-airlines-bids-for-olympic-airlines.htm
Aegean Airlines Bids for Olympic Airlines
Wednesday March 4, 2009

Award-winning airline Aegean has made a bid to buy beleaguered Olympic Airlines, the International Herald Tribune reported today.

I have to admit I find this exciting news - Aegean Airlines has done very well in providing quality air service in and around Greece, and a takeover of Olympic Airlines - and its temporary successor, Pantheon, could be a very good thing. But would Aegean stay at the top of its form without any real competition in the Greece market? That's another question.

In any case, it's far from a done deal at this point. Since the Greek government made a passionate plea for additional bids last month, several new suitors for Olympic have emerged, including U.S.-based Chrysler Aviation.

Im a big fan of Aegean. Their growth over the past decade has been impressive, refreshing and natural. Olympic has been a big turn down and the organisation is a shame to look at.

My initial reaction is that a takeover of Olympic by Aegean would be good for international traffic, but most likely negative for the domestic market.

This bid of Aegean is big news! Aegean untill now was considered not to have long haul plans! I wonder what they are aiming at.

Olympic has some long haul aircraft (a340-300's) and London Heathrow slots. These are worth a lot of money.Still, Im inclined to say that the branding of Olympic is overrated, and that Aegean can do fine by its own.

No doubt about it, they are the most professional bidder and partner from the lot, though I wonder if this is really the right direction Aegean should move to. Olympic, with all its debts and unions, is toxic waste when compared to Aegean...

Still, Im inclined to say that the branding of Olympic is overrated, and that Aegean can do fine by its own.

No doubt about it, they are the most professional bidder and partner from the lot, though I wonder if this is really the right direction Aegean should move to. Olympic, with all its debts and unions, is toxic waste when compared to Aegean...

You are right. Aegean's brand is actually strong in Greece. Regarding the unions and debts, part of the new plans approved by the EC, wipes out all of the debt, and creates a new airline (Pantheon) that takes over Olympic's assets with no unions and such. Then as we all know, Pantheon transitions to the Olympic name.

The second article I posted above is a good read. It provides some insight into their thinking about this bid. (Hopefully it is serious, and not a trick...)

Grk101, your posts are much appreciated by me!

I've followed the Alitalia-saga in the media too. Part of that plan was also a reshuffle of the unions. Within 2 weeks of the new AirOne-Alitalia formula taking effect, the old Alitalia employees were on a strike again for some silly reason.

Of course both situations are not exactly the same, but Im afraid I still remain a bit ironic when it concerns such a "clean slate" takeover. In the books it may look good, but the people, organisation and hierarchy remain the same.

What do u think?

Why am I not surprised!


«Όχι» πιλότων σε πώληση των ΟΑ στην Aegean

Αντίθετοι στο ενδεχόμενο πώλησης της Ολυμπιακής στην Aegean δηλώνουν οι πιλότοι των Ολυμπιακών Αερογραμμών και καλούν την κυβέρνηση να μην προχωρήσει σε διαπραγματεύσεις με τη συγκεκριμένη εταιρεία.

Σε ανακοίνωσή της η ΕΧΠΑ θεωρεί «δεδομένο και αυτονόητο ότι η ελληνική κυβέρνηση θα χειρισθεί το εν λόγω ζήτημα με τη δέουσα σοβαρότητα, απορρίπτοντας την προσφορά της Aegean, ώστε να αποτραπεί ένα μονοπωλιακό καθεστώς στον κλάδο των εγχώριων αερομεταφορών».

Μάλιστα προειδοποιεί πως σε περίπτωση που «η κυβέρνηση αποδεχθεί συνομιλίες διαπραγμάτευσης, θα συναντήσει τη δυναμική αντίδραση των μελών του κλάδου, τα οποία δεν θα έχουν κανένα πλέον κίνητρο προσφοράς υπηρεσιών για τη στήριξη του όλου εγχειρήματος».

Source: www.naftemporiki.gr

Almopos, I dont know if you missed this one, but this has to be the best commercial in Greece I saw last year!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdEQVcClPoc

Those pilots dont surprise me. In a possible new organisation they will find each other again, and divide the company in two camps. I´m very sceptical when it comes down to these employees that have grown accustomed to a relationship with their company which is uncompetitive.

Why am I not surprised!

If I remember correctly, the pilots were the ones that blocked the Aegean bid a few years back too.....

Grk101, your posts are much appreciated by me!

I've followed the Alitalia-saga in the media too. Part of that plan was also a reshuffle of the unions. Within 2 weeks of the new AirOne-Alitalia formula taking effect, the old Alitalia employees were on a strike again for some silly reason.

Of course both situations are not exactly the same, but Im afraid I still remain a bit ironic when it concerns such a "clean slate" takeover. In the books it may look good, but the people, organisation and hierarchy remain the same.

What do u think?
Thanks for the appreciation! I am glad someone is reading them. :)

You are right in saying that some of the things will stay the same. (Like current employee's attitudes and work ethics). I guess we just have to hope that the new investors pick people that want to see OA succeed.

I don't know how the unions will be shuffled with OA, but I think that the unions will be broken up completely. But I don't know for sure. I am also afraid that some of it will remain, and we will have a similar situation like Alitalia.

^^

I read them too :okay: I like aviation as much as I like skyscrapers!!!

Well these news are really bad for Athens Airways. If this is going to happen, then either they will disappear or Aegean will buy them. I don't know really.

But let's see the bright side. There is going to be a big company which is going to stand in front of the European giants like Lufthansa, British Airways, Air France and KLM.

I mean why not?? Olympic failed because of PASOK actions. They should be ashamed of what they've done. Θα τρίζουν τα κόκκαλα του Ωνάση!!!

Here is a new article about OA's privatization, that includes information (underlined) that has been reported before too, about what will happen to the employees. Of course the pilots are probably not part of the group that will be transfered, so it will still be tough for Aegean if the pilots continue to oppose their bid. Who knows though. Maybe the new investors will decide to hire all new employees.....


FROM: http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2009/03/05/feature-02

Storied Greek airline awaits privatisation
05/03/2009

Greek and foreign corporations are competing to acquire Olympic Airlines, likely bringing 34 years of deficit-plagued government ownership to an end.
By Christos Ringas for Southeast European Times in Athens -- 05/03/09

Greece may be seeing the end of Olympic Airlines' turbulent 34 years in state hands. This week, three companies bid for the ailing state-owned carrier.

"We are close to a deal, which is expected to be finalised this Thursday," Reuters quoted an unnamed official from the Marfin Investment Group, Greece's biggest buyout specialist, as saying.

The rush of interest in the cash-strapped airline -- saving it from a nationally humiliating shutdown -- comes after the government's international tender expired in January with no satisfactory bidders. Qatar Airways and the UAE's Etihad Airways were among the suitors who ultimately backed off.

Marfin controls almost 50% of the Greek passenger shipping market through its subsidiary, Blue Star Ferries. Another subsidiary, Vivartia, is the largest player in the Balkan food industry.

The company estimates that its total investment -- if it wins the bid -- would range from 180m to 250m euros, including the cost of new planes and hiring of new staff.

Two other companies expressed interest while the government was reviewing Marfin's proposal. Aegean Airlines, Olympic's privately owned Greek competitor, offered 170m euros on Wednesday, about twice as much as Marfin did. Chrysler Aviation, a US-based air charter company, bid 210m euros on the same day, according to Greek state TV.

A fourth firm, the Spanish-owned air cargo and aircraft ground-handling firm Swissport, has bid solely for Olympic's ground-handling services.

The government's Intra-Cabinet Committee for Privatisations estimates the airline's current value at 120m euros.

Privatisation means an uncertain future for the airline's employees. As part of the public sector, they currently enjoy generous fringe benefits. In the past, they have resisted moves to sell off or overhaul the airline by staging strikes and demonstrations.

Business analysts, however, say Olympic's payroll is bloated. The government has said it would transfer most of the 8,100 employees to other public sector positions, leaving the airline's eventual new owner with its corporate name and logo.

Athens has battled the EU for years over illegal subsidies to the carrier, which have been a profound drain on state coffers. According to the AP, Olympic has "accumulated losses of around 2.7 billion euros". Legendary shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis founded Olympic in 1957 after acquiring TAE - Greek National Airlines. The company, which enjoyed its glory days in the 1960s, passed into state hands in 1975 following Onassis's death.

Formerly known as Olympic Airways, it acquired its current name as part of a massive restructuring effort in 2003.
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com

MIG is saying that they will withdraw their bid for OA if they do not sign by tomorrow (Friday), as they were close to signing before the 2 new bids came in. They say that Aegean shouldn't even be considered as it would create a monopoly. Aegean counters by saying some of the things that were mentioned in the article I posted above, like giving up some of their routes, while also saying that its the Greek government's duty to talk with them. Meanwhile, the pilot union is threatening to go on strike if the Greek government even talks with Aegean. No mention of Chrysler at all....It's like they aren't even being considered.

Article and video report here: http://www.megatv.com/articles.asp?catid=14543&subid=2&tag=11107&pubid=1593730

Αντίδραση MIG στη "σφήνα" της Aegean

Να αποσύρει το ενδιαφέρον του για την Ολυμπιακή απειλεί ο Ανδρέας Βγενόπουλος, εάν μέχρι την Παρασκευή -τελευταία ημέρα των αποκλειστικών διαπραγματεύσεων της MIG με το ελληνικό Δημόσιο- δεν υπογραφεί η συμφωνία για την εξαγορά του εθνικού αερομεταφορέα.

Αυτό υποστήριξε ο επιχειρηματίας, μιλώντας το πρωί της Πέμπτης στον ρ/σ Real FM, όπου άφησε παράλληλα αιχμές για δημιουργία μονοπωλίου στην εσωτερική αγορά εφόσον προκριθεί η πρόταση της Aegean. "Έμεις -είπε ο κ. Βγενόπουλος- αυτή τη συμφωνία που κάναμε με την κυβέρνηση την τηρήσαμε κι έχουμε φτάσει μια ημέρα πριν από την υπογραφή της συμφωνίας. Προφανώς, εφόσον η κυβέρνηση έχει την πολιτική βούληση να προχωρήσει μαζί μας και να μην δημιουργηθεί ένα ιδιωτικό μονοπώλιο στον τομέα των αερομεταφορών, η συμφωνία αυτή θα υπογραφεί αύριο".

Στελέχη της Aegean επισημαίνουν ότι η κυβέρνηση είναι υποχρεωμένη να διαπραγματευτεί και μαζί της, αφού -όπως λένε- η πρότασή τους είναι πιο συμφέρουσα. Όσο για το θέμα μονοπωλίου, θεωρούν ότι υπάρχει λύση, με την παραχώρηση μέρους του πτητικού έργου στην εσωτερική αγορά. "Ο στόχος μας είναι η κρίσιμη μάζα στο εξωτερικό" δηλώνει ο αντιπρόεδρος της Aegean Ευτύχης Βασιλάκης.

Το θέμα είναι τι θα αποφασίσει η Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή. Σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες από τις Βρυξέλλες, η επίτροπος ανταγωνισμού είναι πιθανό να βάλει φρένο στην πρόταση της Aegean.

Οι νέες προτάσεις για εξαγορά της Ολυμπιακής προκαλούν τις αντιδράσεις των εργαζομένων, με τους πιλότους να προειδοποιούν ότι θα κατεβάσουν τα αεροπλάνα εάν η κυβέρνηση μπει έστω και στη διαδικασία της διαπραγμάτευσης με την Aegean.

And the winner is....!

http://www.marfininvestmentgroup.com/

200mln euro

"Meanwhile, the pilot union is threatening to go on strike if the Greek government even talks with Aegean. No mention of Chrysler at all....It's like they aren't even being considered."

This is the sad reality. We, the tax payers are always hostage to a group of thugs. They would rather see olympic dissapear than have aegean buy it.

WHY??

What's wrong with aegean talking with the goverment? I guess they are affraid that if olympic is sold to aegean, they would have to actually work some day, and that's what they want to avoid.

^^

Nope my friend. They want to avoid MONOPOLY. Which is a really big issue. Athens Airways and other smaller companies will totally disappear. There are advantages and disadvantages to the Aegean issue.

But as I said before, I would like Aegean to win. I like the perspective of a big company that can stand against the European colossus.

It looks like Chrysler isn't initially being considered since they haven't found financial backing for their bid yet.

"Όπως αποκαλύπτει επιστολή προς τον υπουργό Μεταφορών ο δεύτερος διεκδικητής της ΟΑ, η Chrysler Aviaton που ανακοίνωσε χθες ότι υπέβαλλε προσφορά ύψους 210 εκατ. ευρώ δεν έχουν ακόμα βρεθεί τα κεφάλαια για την εξαγορά." FROM: http://www.imerisia.gr/article.asp?catid=12336&subid=2&tag=9462&pubid=5949106

Meanwhile, Aegean has also mentioned that they will freeze fares until the end of 2010 if their bid goes through, along with giving up routes, if asked to do so. They also say that they submit a joint bid with Goldair for the ground handling if necessary.

Today is Friday, the day MIG threatened to pull out if they do not win the bidding. Let's see what will happen.


FROM: http://www.ana-mpa.gr/anaweb/user/showplain?maindoc=7379420&service=142
Aegean promises to freeze domestic fares

Aegean Airlines, which on Wednesday submitted a bid for the purchase of Olympic Airways, on Friday announced that it will freeze ticket fares for domestic flights until 2010 if negotiations with the Greek government over OA's acquisition lead to a deal.

In an announcement, Aegean Airlines reiterated that its primary motivation in submitting a proposal for the state-run carrier is to create a "national 'champion" that will preserve the name Olympic and that will merge both companies' strong points.

Referring to the ground services unit, for which Aegean has not submitted a bid, the announcement notes that "when such a necessity occurs, Aegean can, in a few days and in cooperation with Goldair, with which it has already begun negotiations, submit a proposal that will guarantee a reliable solution."

Rumor is that the Greek government struck a deal with MIG, and the unions are happy with it....If true, the announcement should come soon.

And here it is:

Η κυβέρνηση επέλεξε τη λύση MIG για Ολυμπιακή

Το «πράσινο φως» στις προσφορές της Marfin Investment Group (MIG) και της Swissport Hellas για την πώληση της Ολυμπιακής, συνολικού ύψους 177,2 εκατ. ευρώ, έδωσε χθες η κυβέρνηση. Η Ολυμπιακή Αεροπορία ύστερα από 35 χρόνια λειτουργίας της ως δημόσιας εταιρείας, περνά και πάλι (έως τα μέσα της δεκαετίας του '70 ανήκε στον Ωνάση) σε «χέρια» ιδιωτών.

Με δήλωσή του αργά χθες το βράδυ, ο υπουργός Ανάπτυξης Κωστής Χατζηδάκης, επιβεβαίωσε την επιτυχή κατάληξη των διαπραγματεύσεων για την πώληση του εθνικού αερομεταφορέα.

«Οι επενδυτικοί και νομικοί σύμβουλοι της κυβέρνησης μας ενημέρωσαν ότι οι διαπραγματεύσεις τους με τους συμβούλους της MIG για την πώληση στοιχείων ενεργητικού του πτητικού έργου και της τεχνικής βάσης της Ολυμπιακής είχαν επιτυχή κατάληξη.

Για την επίγεια εξυπηρέτηση, καθώς οι συζητήσεις της MIG και της Swissport για την ολοκλήρωση μεταξύ τους εμπορικής συμφωνίας συνεχίζονται, ζητήθηκε και δόθηκε παράταση μιας εβδομάδας στις αποκλειστικές διαπραγματεύσεις με το δημόσιο. Εντωμεταξύ, υπάρχει δέσμευση από την πλευρά της MIG, ότι αν δεν ευοδωθούν οι διαπραγματεύσεις της με την Swissport, η MIG θα εξαγοράσει και τα στοιχεία ενεργητικού της επίγειας εξυπηρέτησης στην τιμή που έχει προσδιοριστεί από τους ανεξάρτητους εκτιμητές (44,8 εκ. ευρώ)», δήλωσε ο υπουργός.

Σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες η λύση της ΜΙG προτιμήθηκε από την Aegean για λόγους οικονομικούς και για προστασία του ανταγωνισμού.

Υπό την έγκριση της Ε.Ε.

Επισημαίνεται ότι η όποια συμφωνία με τη MIG τελεί υπό την έγκριση της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής Μόλις δοθεί η έγκριση αυτή, σε περίπου μια εβδομάδα, θα συνεδριάσει η αρμόδια Διυπουργική Επιτροπή Αποκρατικοποιήσεων, η οποία και θα επικυρώσει τη συμφωνία, για να αρχίσει η εφαρμογή της.

Η κυβέρνηση, σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες, κατέληξε στην προσφορά της MIG, θεωρώντας ότι εξασφαλίζει: κεφαλαιακή επάρκεια, εργασιακή ειρήνη και προοπτική συνέχισης της λειτουργίας της εταιρείας, με βάση τις δεσμεύσεις για επενδύσεις 80 εκατ. ευρώ, την εγγύηση της Swissport στον τομέα της τεχνογνωσίας, αλλά και την παρουσία αναγνωρισμένων στελεχών - συμπεριλαμβανομένων των νεοπροσληφθέντων στελεχών από την Aegean - στο δυναμικό της MIG.

Υπενθυμίζεται ότι η ΜΙG, έναντι συνολικού τιμήματος 127,4 εκατ. ευρώ, θα αγοράσει το πτητικό έργο και την τεχνική βάση της Ολυμπιακής, ενώ η Swissport Hellas θα αναλάβει το έργο της επίγειας εξυπηρέτησης, καταβάλλοντας 49,8 εκατ. ευρώ.

Την κατάσταση που εξελίχθηκε σε θρίλερ περιέπλεξε η κατάθεση στο παρά πέντε των δύο προσφορών για την Ολυμπιακή, από την Aegean Airlines και την Chrysler Aviation.

Σημειώνεται ότι η MIG είχε υπογραμμίσει πως, εάν δεν υπήρχε σύντομα συμφωνία, προτίθετο να αποχωρήσει τελεσίδικα από τη διαδικασία. Είναι θέμα πολιτικής απόφασης, εάν τελικά θα κλείσει η συμφωνία με τη ΜΙG ή θα επιλεγεί η λύση της συνέχισης των διαπραγματεύσεων με την Aegean Αirlines ή την Chrysler Aviation, που εκδήλωσαν ενδιαφέρον για την Ολυμπιακή την τελευταία στιγμή, ανέφερε παράγοντας της αγοράς.

Νομική εξέταση

Οι νέες προσφορές εξετάστηκαν από τους οικονομικούς και νομικούς συμβούλους της κυβέρνησης, προκειμένου να διαπιστωθεί η νομική και η οικονομική τους επάρκεια, καθώς και κατά πόσον αυτές ήταν σύμφωνες με την εθνική και κοινοτική νομοθεσία για τον ανταγωνισμό. Οι σύμβουλοι αποκρατικοποίησης της Ολυμπιακής, σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες, γνωμοδότησαν ότι πιθανή εξαγορά της εταιρείας από την Aegean, θα δημιουργούσε καθεστώς μονοπωλίου στην εσωτερική αγορά αερομεταφορών.

source: http://www.naftemporiki.gr/news/static/09/03/06/1638090.htm

And in English:


FROM: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/06/business/EU-Greece-Olympic-Airlines.php

Greece: MIG picked to buy ailing Olympic Airlines
The Associated Press
Published: March 6, 2009

ATHENS, Greece: The Greek government said late Friday its advisers have picked Marfin Investment Group to buy debt-ridden state carrier Olympic Airlines, in a deal expected to earn Greece a total €177.2 million ($224.3 million).

Development Minister Costis Hadzidakis said the decision was made following three weeks of negotiations with MIG, a Greece-based investment holdings company. In picking MIG, the state advisers rejected a rival bid from Olympic's main domestic rival, Aegean Airlines, and U.S.-based Chrysler Aviation.

"The government's investment and legal advisers have informed us that their negotiations with MIG's advisers for the sale of Olympic's flight operations and technical maintenance had a successful conclusion," Hadzidakis said in a statement.

He said the government will announce its final decision after awaiting approval from the European Union.

MIG has offered €45.7 million ($57.9 million) and €16.7 million ($21.1 million) for Olympic's flight operations and technical maintenance assets.

The talks followed the government's public appeal to investors last month, after a previous tender — the sixth effort to privatize the ailing firm — failed to attract sufficiently high bids.

Hadzidakis said the government has provided a week's extension for the sale of Olympic's ground handling services, pending negotiations between MIG and Swissport, which has offered €44.8 million ($56.7 million) for that section of the company.

But he said that MIG has committed to pay the same sum for the ground handling services if the talks fail.

"In that way, the total proceeds for the state will be €177.2 million ($224.3 million)," Hadzidakis said. Ministry officials said that sum would include the price of Olympic's share capital.

Founded a half-century ago by Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, Olympic has accumulated losses of around €2.7 billion (US$3.5 billion). Its sale will provide a major relief to Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis' governing conservatives, who have to deal with a sharp drop in growth and a burgeoning public debt amid the international financial crisis.

For years, Greece subsidized the struggling national airline, which in 2001 had debts totaling some €120 million ($151.9 million). In 2003, the government incorporated the assets of debt-ridden Olympic Airways and two subsidiaries into the renamed Olympic Airlines.

Friday's agreement came despite two last-minute bids submitted this week.

Aegean Airlines offered €170 million ($215 million) for the carrier's flight operations, technical maintenance and a company set up by the government to succeed Olympic.

And U.S.-based aircraft charter company Chrysler Aviation offered €210 million ($266 million).

Before Friday's announcement, MIG said it was prepared to offer the government the option to denationalize Olympic "at any point in time up until 3 months following the next general elections," set for 2011.

The government has said it wants to transfer most of Olympic's 8,100 staff to other public sector jobs. Last year, the European Union approved Greece's plan to break up and fully privatize Olympic by the end of 2009.

Olympic was founded in 1957, and was nationalized in 1975.

I think that this is good and bad. MIG is a buyout company, whose goal will be to make OA profitable and then sell it off after a couple of years. (Similar to Cosmote) We just have to hope that the eventual buyer in a couple of years will be a good one. I also like the fact that they plan to renew the fleet. It is also rumored that they hired some ex-Aegean executives already to head the new OA. But I still have the feeling that MIG has some sort of secret agenda......Time will tell.

Anyway, we just have to hope that the deal doesn't fall through. There have been many deals signed in the past that have fallen through. (The last one was with "Olympic Investors" back in 2006 or so) We also have to remember that the European Commission has to approve the offer. I wonder if they will raise any questions on why the Aegean and Chrysler bids were not looked into more closely. And it will be interesting to see what happens with the Swissport offer this coming week.

Finally some progress is being made though! :)

^^

Yep. At least we are not going to pay taxes for Olympic.

*

"....But I still have the feeling that MIG has some sort of secret agenda"


You are correct. In the very near future Olympic and Aegean will merge. This is the only rational play given the small size of the Greek market. At the moment it would not have been politically possible for Aegean to go after Olympic - but once Oly is privatized its an entirely different game. Greeks know that competition is so over-rated: Oligopoly is the way to profits and economic peace.

*

I heard on the news, that when the deal gets approved, MIG will gain 49% of OA, then with in 4 months, they will gain 100%. (Then the Pantheon stuff)

It will be interesting to see what routes are kept and which are cut. Part of the EU plan is that OA has to shrink to 65% of its current size. (But the new owners can reinstate the cut routes later if they want).

I'm sure they are going to keep the ''big'' roots. Like New York, London , Amsterdam and some German.

Domestic only the profitable ones. Thessaloniki, Iraklio, Chania, Mikonos, Rhodes, Kerkira (Corfu) and Santorini.

I'm not sure though... :)

What's on earth is the most important staff Olympic has. The repairing workshops in Athens, the Boing 737-200/400 Full Flight Simulator Training Center in Chania and numerous others.

Well I think that they will also keep some non-profitable island routes. If I recall correctly, they are legally subsidized by the Greek government as it is sometimes the only mode of transportation for those who live on the islands. Who knows how it will work out now. Wouldn't the government have to make an open bid for the island routes? I mean could they legally (without getting in trouble with the EU) just pick the new private OA to carry out the flights? I guess we will find out soon enough.

Also, I think that they are getting rid of the 737's. Back when MIG first announced their intentions to buy OA, they mentioned that they will not buy 17 old planes that OA has. They were not specific though....

Vgenopoulos was on TV the other day, and he said that there is a great opportunity to renew the fleet right now, as many airlines have canceled orders (leaving open slots for planes and such), as well as the economic crisis, which means they can get planes cheaper.

Probably. Well we'll see pretty soon.

Ελπίζω να πάνε όλα καλά.... :)

I hope they get rid of those old boeing planes. I would rather see olympic fly airbuses.
I would also love to see a route ATH-Sao Paulo-Buenos Aires. Perhaps on a codeshare with TAM or othe big brazilian airlines.

I think there used to be an ATH-Brazil flight once, but I think it was operated by a brazilian airline with a codeshare agreement with olympic.

Does anyone know anything about this?

FROM: http://news.ert.gr/en/19831-o-logos-stis-brykselles-gia-ti-symfonia-me-ti-mig.htm


Brussels Has Final Word on Agreement with MIG

Marfin Group will have control over Olympic Airlines very soon after the European Commission gives the green light for that in Brussels Tuesday. The agreement reached concerns Olympic's flight operations and technical maintenance base, while negotiations for the ground handling service will extend for one more week. Transport Minister Evripidis Stylianidis spoke of national success, while PASOK MP Christos Papoutsis' statement that if elected, PASOK (Socialists) would re-negotiate the terms of the agreement to secure, as he said, the state's interests. KKE (Communist Party of Greece) and SYN (Coalition of the Left) expressed their objection over the company's privatization.

The Opposition Reacts
The Bi-ministerial Privatisations Committee will take the final decision this week after the Commission gives its approval.
PASOK political spokesman Nikos Sifounakis agreed with the deal, provided Olympic Airlines offers its services across Greece, within the framework of healthy competition and is protected by future changes that could lead to the final closing of the company. Moreover, credits for its employees and their Social Security Funds should be secured.

Mr Sifounakis reminded PASOK's proposal for a company with state and private capital. "The state today has at its disposal 300 million euros, after a court ruling justifying OA, which could serve as participation capital and which is about double of the sum with which OA will be sold," he said.

KKE and SYN expressed their objection to the company's privatization, holding responsible ND and PASOK.

KKE described the agreement another crime at the expence of the Greek people and the company's employees.

SYN described the government's decision with PASOK's full consent for the company's privatization absurd and a crime in today's world neo-liberal financial crisis.

From their side, the employees spoke of a positive development, requesting however more details on the deal.

State Funds to Benefit
The Greek economy will benefit from OA's privatization in today's global financial crisis.
The state is set to receive the sum of 177.2 million euros after the agreement is signed, while MIG will be paying 150 million euros on an annual basis from airport taxes (Spatosimo), from employment income taxes and from contributions to IKA (Social Security Institute).

In parallel, the financial "hemorrhage" from OA's debts will stop and the European Court will stop fining the company.
Greek tax-payers used to pay one million euros per day due to the company's huge "black hole", while OA had to pay 15,000 euros per day as a fine by the European court from 1998-2002.
As per Development Ministry information, the privatization of three OA sectors is important, as the employees will benefit from that.

New Leaf for a Company with Half a Century History
The company was founded by Aristotelis Onassis and commenced operating on 6 April 1957.

Olympic Airways developed rapidly. In 1960 it acquired its first jet and began cooperating with British Airways, while the jet set preferred to travel with its planes.

Then, its aircrafts reached New York, Johannesburg and Canada.

In 1971, a subsidiary was founded, serving small and big Greek islands.

In 1972, expatriate Greeks in Australia felt proud when they welcomed the first Olympic aircraft in Melbourne and Sydney.

However, the company decided to sell the company when Alexandros Onassis, son of Aristotelis was killed in a tragic company in 1973.

In 1986, the company's deficit rose sharply when OA employees staged rallies.

The Greek government's attempt in 1993 to make OA a profit-making company failed despite the fact that its debts were written off. All sanitization efforts failed and in 2003 deficits skyrocketed. It was then when it was decided that the company should be restructured and Olympic Airlines be created.

In 2004, the EU forced the Greek state to ask from OA to return millions of euros and declare bankruptcy, selling in parallel all its assets.

The governments' attempts to sell the company failed until today, when the Greek state appealed to Greek businessmen.
After three weeks of negotiations, MIG reached an agreement with the Greek state, while Aegean Airlines and Crysler Aviation exhibited their interest at the last moment.

Finally, the negotiations succeeded Friday night and MIG Group will purchase Olympic Airlines.

Interesting discussion on leading aviation site.

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/4343219/

Interesting discussion on leading aviation site.

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/4343219/

Thanks. I read it from time to time, but I'm not a member.

«Στη νέα Ολυμπιακή δεν φθάσαμε τυχαία αλλά με συντονισμένη προσπάθεια και σκληρές διαπραγματεύσεις στις Βρυξέλλες», επεσήμανε σήμερα Δευτέρα ο Υπουργός Ανάπτυξης Κωστής Χατζηδάκης, μετά τη συνάντησή του με τον Πρωθυπουργό στο Μέγαρο Μαξίμου. Και πρόσθεσε ότι: «Θα έχουμε μια καινούργια Ολυμπιακή, στην οποία δεν θα πληρώνουμε 300 εκατ. ευρώ το χρόνο οι Έλληνες φορολογούμενοι, αλλά αντίθετα θα εισπράττουμε 150 εκατομμύρια ευρώ από “σπατόσημο”, φόρο μισθωτών υπηρεσιών και εισφορές στο ΙΚΑ». Σύμφωνα πάντως με όλες τις εκτιμήσεις, η Ολυμπιακή θα λειτουργεί υπό νέα διεύθυνση από τον προσεχή Σεπτέμβριο.

source: http://www.sport-fm.gr/article/168246

Any word on those 4 Airbus A340-300 that are owned by the government?
France has only 1 government A340-300, no idea what the Greek government should do with 4...They are worth a lot of money, even 2nd hand.

2 new article from ERT:


FROM: http://news.ert.gr/en/19853-oi-epomenes-kiniseis-gia-ti-nea-olympiaki.htm
New OA Company next Moves

Olympic Airways privatization agreement is entering into final stage as official conclusion of procedures is expected in the next 10 days. The EU Commission is to give its official approval to Greek state-MIG agreement in less than 24 hours, which literally is a typical procedure as a commissioner appointed by Brussels was monitoring negotiations and he was in accordance with the final agreement.

Transition Procedures
The Bi-ministerial Privatization Committee will reach a final agreement this week prior to its submission to the Parliament for ratification.
In parallel, Olympic Airways employees, who are expecting announcement of MARFIN plan, intend to meet with representatives of Andreas Bgenopoulos to expound their positions regarding their future in the company.

MARFIN group is expected to announce its plan regarding job positions, number of aircrafts and flights' schedule next week. Olympic Airways privatization program provides for several options among which employees can select voluntary early retirement, transfer to another post in the public sector or negotiate their hiring by the new company with individual contracts under private sector terms.

In any occasion, passengers can make reservations for Easter and summer holidays flights as there will not be even a day suspension of flights' schedule till the operation of the new Olympic Airways company.


FROM: http://news.ert.gr/en/19849-synergasia-karamanli-xatzidaki-gia-tin-olympiaki.htm
Karamanlis Satisfied at OA Agreement

According to reports, Prime-minister Kostas Karamanlis expressed satisfaction at developments regarding Olympic Airways during his meeting on Monday with Transport Minister Kostis Hatzidakis and also referred to the broad acceptance of the government's venture. "We should ignore temporary political cost and go ahead because the end justifies the means" stressed Kostis Hatzidakis, speaking of € 150 million yearly benefit from the new Olympic Airways company. EU Commission is expected to approve Greek state-MIIG deal on Tuesday while the Bi-ministerial Privatization Committee is to reach its final decision in the next days prior to submission of the final agreement to the Parliament for ratification.

Coordinated Effort & Plan
"If procedures develop till the end according to planning the state will be receiving 150 million euros yearly from the new Olympic Airways company and Greek taxpayers would be relieved from the 350 million euros yearly burden" said transport Minister Kostis Hatzidakis after his meeting with the Prime-minister.

Mr. Hatzidakis stressed that the deal was reached through coordinated efforts and tough negotiations in Brussels and reassured that there would not be any problems with passengers during the privatization procedures. The privatization procedure is expected to concluded in the next 10 days.

Any word on those 4 Airbus A340-300 that are owned by the government?
France has only 1 government A340-300, no idea what the Greek government should do with 4...They are worth a lot of money, even 2nd hand.

I guess we will know next week like the article above says. On another note, according to a user on Airliners.net, Marfin bought OA without its staff.....

Almopos, I dont know if you missed this one, but this has to be the best commercial in Greece I saw last year!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdEQVcClPoc

:lol: Thank you Gorgos. Just noticed your post! Friends of mine told me about this commercial but I never actually saw it on TV.


MIG intends to invest EUR 100 milion in Olympic

Ο όμιλος της Marfin Investment Group έχει ήδη προγραμματίσει επενδύσεις οι οποίες θα αγγίξουν τα 100 εκατ. ευρώ για τους πρώτους μήνες λειτουργίας της νέας O.A.

"Η" 10/3

Eπενδύσεις οι οποίες θα αγγίξουν τα 100 εκατ. ευρώ για τους πρώτους μήνες λειτουργίας της νέας O.A. έχει ήδη προγραμματίσει ο όμιλος της Marfin Investment Group.

Tο ποσό αυτό θα διατεθεί για την αγορά ή την μίσθωση νέων αεροσκαφών, για τις προσλήψεις του προσωπικού η διαδικασία για τις οποίες ξεκινά άμεσα- αλλά και για τα πρώτα λειτουργικά έξοδα της εταιρείας η οποία αναμένεται να ξεκινήσει πτήσεις (άγονων γραμμών) αμέσως μετά την υπογραφή της συμφωνίας με το ελληνικό δημόσιο και την έγκριση από την Bουλή.

Η έγκριση

Σήμερα ή το αργότερο αύριο αναμένεται η έγκριση της Kομισιόν, ενώ μέχρι την ερχόμενη Παρασκευή αναμένεται να συνεδριάσει η διυπουργική Eπιτροπή Aποκρατικοποιήσεων, η οποία θα εγκρίνει τη συμφωνία ελληνικού δημοσίου και MIG για την εξαγορά της O.A.

Mέχρι τότε θα έχουν ολοκληρωθεί και οι διαπραγματεύσεις με την Swissport η οποία διεκδικεί την επίγεια εξυπηρέτηση. Eν τω μεταξύ η Marfin Investment Group (MIG) δημοσιεύει σήμερα αγγελίες για προσλήψεις στην αεροπορική εταιρεία.

«Oι θέσεις εργασίας αφορούν δεκάδες ειδικότητες που είναι απαραίτητες για τη λειτουργία της αεροπορικής εταιρείας με προτεραιότητα στο ιπτάμενο προσωπικό. Oι ενδιαφερόμενοι μπορούν να ενημερωθούν για τις συγκεκριμένες προϋποθέσεις που αφορούν κάθε ειδικότητα από το διαδίκτυο», αναφέρεται σε χθεσινή ανακοίνωση της εταιρείας, όπου τονίζεται ότι τα βιογραφικά θα πρέπει να έχουν κατατεθεί έως την Tρίτη 24 Mαρτίου 2009.

Παράλληλα με αυτή τη διαδικασία τα στελέχη που έχουν ήδη προσληφθεί από τον όμιλο θα εξετάσουν και τους 6.000 φακέλους των εργαζομένων στην O.A. προκειμένου να τους αξιολογήσουν και να καλέσουν όσους από αυτούς επιλέξουν για διαπραγματεύσεις προκειμένου να προσληφθούν στη νέα εταιρεία.

Oι νέες προσλήψεις θα γίνουν με διαφορετικές συμβάσεις από τις υπάρχουσες, στο πλαίσιο της ελεύθερης αγοράς. Yπενθυμίζεται ότι το σχέδιο της κυβέρνησης για τη στήριξη των υπαλλήλων της O.A., κόστους 1,3 δισ. ευρώ, προβλέπει ότι θα αποχωρήσουν από την O.A. με πλήρη σύνταξη 2.464 άτομα (με προσαύξηση των ενσήμων τους κατά 50%), άλλοι 573 θα κάνουν χρήση της προσαύξησης των ενσήμων κατά το δοκούν και 4.593 εργαζόμενοι θα μεταταγούν.

Ο όμιλος έχει αρχίσει συζητήσεις με Έλληνες εφοπλιστές που ενδιαφέρονται να συμμετάσχουν στη δημιουργία της νέας εταιρείας με τη μορφή του private placement. Στο ίδιο πλαίσιο έχουν γίνει και οι πρώτες επαφές με μεγάλο ευρωπαϊκό αερομεταφορέα στον οποίο η MIG αναζητά στρατηγική συμμαχία ή συνεργασία πουθα περιλαμβάνει πτήσεις με κωδικό (code sharing).

Επίσης, εξετάζεται και η εμπορική και τιμολογιακή πολιτική της νέας εταιρείας, με στόχο να προσφέρει ελκυστικότερες τιμές στην αγορά ώστε να αντιστρέψει την πτωτική τάση των κρατήσεων της σημερινής Oλυμπιακής.

Tην ικανοποίησή του για την επίτευξη συμφωνίας εξέφρασε χθες ο υπουργός Aνάπτυξης,Kωστής Xατζηδάκης.

Yστερα από συνάντηση που είχε με τον πρωθυπουργό στο Mέγαρο Mαξίμου, προκειμένου να ενημερωθεί για όλες τις τρέχουσες εξελίξεις, ο κ. Xατζηδάκης επισήμανε ότι «με τη συμφωνία αυτή επιτυγχάνουμε την είσπραξη 150 εκατ. ευρώ το χρόνο από το σπατόσημο και άλλες εισφορές, ενώ πριν οι Έλληνες φορολογούμενοι βαρύνονταν με 350 εκατ. ευρώ από την O.A».

Source: www.imerisia.gr

I hope they get rid of those old boeing planes. I would rather see olympic fly airbuses.
I would also love to see a route ATH-Sao Paulo-Buenos Aires. Perhaps on a codeshare with TAM or othe big brazilian airlines.

I think there used to be an ATH-Brazil flight once, but I think it was operated by a brazilian airline with a codeshare agreement with olympic.

Does anyone know anything about this?

At the moment there is no thought for flights to Latin America as the new company has first to see where they fly after the takeover.

Yes, there was an Athens - Sao Paulo flight in the late 1990s operated by VASP in a code-sharing agreement with OA. If I remember well it was twice a week.

And the EC has backed the deal. Now the Greek parliament has to vote on it, and then MIG gains control of OA.


FROM: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUSLA55273320090310
UPDATE 1-EU exec backs Olympic Air privatisation plan
Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:32am EDT

(Adds details, background)

BRUSSELS, March 10 (Reuters) - The European Commission endorsed on Tuesday Greece's latest plan to sell its ailing flag carrier Olympic Airlines and auxiliary company Olympic Airways Services, saying it did not breach state aid rules.

Last week, Greece reached a deal to sell Olympic Airlines to Marfin Investment Group (MRFr.AT), which would pay 45.7 million euros ($57.98 million) for Olympic's flying operations and 20 million euros for its aircraft maintenance base.

"The Commission considered that the revised privatisation plan does not give rise to state aid concerns," the EU executive said in a statement.

It said the sale facilitated a faster sale of Olympic Airlines and Olympic Airways Services' assets instead of launching another tender.

Greece launched an international tender in January, but it failed to attract big names or satisfactory bids. It then decided on a direct sale of Olympic's assets.

Athens had wrangled for years with the Commission over subsidies to Olympic.

In its September 2008 decision approving Greece's planned sale of certain assets belonging to Olympic Airlines and the technical support company, the Commission said this would maximise the chances of recovering illegal state aid previously given to both.

Marfin's main shareholder is Dubai Financial Group. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, editing by Dale Hudson/Will Waterman) ($1=.7881 Euro)



FROM: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/10/business/EU-EU-Greece-Olympic-Airlines.php
EU clears sale of Olympic Airlines
The Associated Press
Published: March 10, 2009

BRUSSELS: The European Union says it approves the sale of Greece's debt-ridden state carrier Olympic Airlines to the Marfin Investment Group.

The deal announced Friday is expected to earn the Greek state a total €177 million ($225 million).

The EU Commission said Tuesday that the deal is legitimate because it was carried through at market prices through direct negotiations.

The decision was made following three weeks of negotiations with MIG, a Greece-based investment holdings company. In picking MIG, the state advisers rejected a rival bid from Olympic's main domestic rival, Aegean Airlines, and U.S.-based Chrysler Aviation.

Looks like the new OA will be free of the old unions. MIG will be hiring employees, or re-hiring from the old OA, and they will have to sign new contracts. They have already posted job listings. More information here:


FROM: http://news.ert.gr/en/19903-ee-kat-arxin-egkrisi-tis-symfonias-dimosiou-mig.htm
EU: In Principle-Approval of MIG-Greek State Deal

EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani is due to announce shortly after 1500 hours that the European Commission intends to give its consent to the agreement brokered between the Greek state and MIG (Marfin Investment Group). The imminent EU approval will pave the way for the ratification of the agreement that gives ailing national air carrier Olympic Airlines to MIG. The agreement will then be submitted to Parliament. MIG plans to renew OA's fleet, restructure routes and hire about 4,000 employees.

Requesting New Personnel for the New OA
The OA employees will pursue to meet with the reps of Andreas Vgenopoulos, head of the MARFIN Group, to state their stance on their future in the new company clear.

MARFIN, on the other hand, has opened several positions for the new OA, calling on those interested to submit their applications by 24 March.

The relevant announcement read that the jobs related to hundreds of specializations necessary for the operation of the carrier.

The employees, who will be hired after being interviewed and are either from the existing OA or from another carrier, will sign personal contracts built upon the free market rules.

For more details on each specialization, those interested can visit http://www.marfininvestmentgroup.com and send their applications and resumes to hr.newaircarrieroperations@marfingroup.gr

FROM: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/11/business/EU-Greece-Olympic-Airlines.php


Greece formally approves Olympic sale to MIG
The Associated Press
Published: March 11, 2009

ATHENS, Greece: The Greek government gave its formal approval Wednesday for the sale of debt-ridden state carrier Olympic Airlines to Greece's Marfin Investment Group.

Development Minister Costis Hadzidakis said the deal, which is expected to earn Greece a total €177.2 million ($226.6 million), will be submitted to Parliament for ratification within the next few days.

"For us, it is positive that a bona fide investment solution has been found," Hadzidakis said.

Last week, the government's advisers picked Greece-based investment holdings company MIG to buy Olympic after three weeks of negotiations, rejecting other bids from the carrier's main domestic rival, Aegean Airlines, and U.S.-based Chrysler Aviation.

The EU Commission approved the deal Tuesday.

Founded a half-century ago by Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, Olympic has accumulated losses of around €2.7 billion (US$3.5 billion). Its sale will provide a major relief to Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis' governing conservatives, who have to deal with a sharp drop in growth and a burgeoning public debt amid the international financial crisis.

Parliament, in which the conservatives hold a one-seat majority, is expected to vote on the deal next month.

Hadzidakis said MIG would acquire full control of the carrier by the end of September.

"There will be no visible effect on passengers regarding ticket bookings or other such matters during the transition period," he said, adding that Olympic would continue serving Greece's dozens of far-flung islands, and other unprofitable destinations.

MIG has offered €45.7 million ($58.4 million) for Olympic's flight operations and €16.7 million ($21.3 million) for the company's technical maintenance assets. The total sum paid will include the price of Olympic's share capital.

A decision on the sale of Olympic's ground handling services has been postponed for Friday, pending negotiations between MIG and Swissport, which has offered €44.8 million ($56.7 million) for that section of the company. The government says MIG has committed to pay the same sum for the ground handling services if the talks fail.

Olympic's 8,100 employees have been offered early retirement or transfers to other public sector jobs.

For years, Greece subsidized the struggling national airline, which in 2001 had debts totaling some €120 million ($152 million). In 2003, the government incorporated the assets of debt-ridden Olympic Airways and two subsidiaries into the renamed Olympic Airlines.

The last of six unsuccessful privatization efforts ended last month after failing to attract sufficient bids. The government then issued a public appeal to investors, which drew the MIG offer.

On Tuesday, the EU Commission said the planned privatization would offer the best chance to recover some €850 million ($1.01 billion) in illegal state subsidies given to the airline and its predecessor over the past years.

In an interview MIG boss expressed his determination not to sell Olympic in the future. His view is that Olympic should become `an integral part` of the MIG group.

Really positive words. Sounds like they really want to put an effort into Olympic.

I hope show.

Some new information in the article below. It also looks like the current employees are starting to complain, as they thought they would automatically be hired at the new OA with out having to re-apply for their jobs........


FROM: http://news.ert.gr/en/20012-a.-bgenopoulos-dino-to-49-sto-dimosio-an-mou-zitithei.htm

A. Vgenopoulos: "Willing to Give 49% to the State if Asked"

MIG Vice President Andreas Vgenopoulos has stated from Heraklion, Crete he is willing not to sell OA, but to transfer up to 49% to the state if asked. Mr Vgenopoulos presented a new liner connecting Piraeus with Heraklion in Heraklion, Crete Thursday. The ship belongs to Attica Group and will begin its trips as of today. In parallel, he pointed out that he wishes to man the new Olympic Airlines with employees, who will not only be qualified but wiling to work hard. Meanwhile, employees do not agree with the procedure of hiring employees in the new OA through advertisements published by MIG; they invite them not to send their CVs.

Mr Vgenopoulos made it clear on Thursday that he intends to constitute Olympic Airlines again an absolutely healthy private company to the benefit of its shareholders and Greece.

He did not commit himself on the number of employees and called those interested to submit their CVs. Mr Vgenopoulos rejected statements as per which he intends to sell OA not only for entrepreneurial reason but also for emotional.

In parallel, he pointed out that he had discussed with the PASOK (Socialists) leader and other opposition party leaders, adding that he is willing to transfer up to 49% of the company to the Greek State, if any government asks him to do so.

The employees' presidiums in OA have already asked from their colleagues not to respond to MARFIN's ads, describing this procedure of hiring personnel outdated, as it neglects thousands of employees working in the company now.

In his Wednesday statements after the approval of the agreement by the Bi-ministerial committee to sell OA, the Development minister reiterated that the employees' incomes are fully secured, whether they decide to be transferred to another public sector or resign voluntarily. However, if they choose to work in the new company, Mr Hatzidakis stated they would be preferred due to their experience.

Messrs Hatzidakis and Vgenopoulos met at the Development minister's office the previous days, but during their meeting the businessman did not commit himself on the number of employees who will man the new OA.

Finally, the minister reported that there would be healthy competition between the new company and Aegean Airlines, which he described healthy and dynamic, adding that they could co-exist.

Meanwhile, the agreement on Marfin's purchase of the company's flight operations and technical maintenance base will be tabled at Parliament at Easter at the latest and thus as of 1 October the new company will commence functioning.

The Development minister announced that the Group would also purchase the ground handling service if negotiations with Swissport do not prove fruitful by Friday.

On a non-OA note:


FROM: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSLB43760820090311

Fuel costs hit Aegean Airlines profits; 09 a concern
Wed Mar 11, 2009 1:30pm EDT

ATHENS, March 11 (Reuters) - Greece's largest private airline, Aegean Airlines (AGNr.AT), posted an 18 percent fall in 2008 net profit as soaring fuel costs offset higher revenues and said it expected a tough 2009.

Aegean said revenue rose 27 percent to 611.7 million euros ($780.8 million), boosted by increased passenger traffic, especially on its international network.

Attributable net profit stood at 29.5 million euros, weighed down by a 54 percent rise in fuel costs.

The company will propose a dividend of 0.25 euro per share.

Aegean carried 6 million passengers last year, up 14 percent from 2007, outperforming the overall market. Carrier's group IATA said passenger traffic rose a modest 1.6 percent in 2008.

"Inevitably, prospects for 2009 will be affected by current unfavourable business environment, the slowdown in economic activity and consequently expected reduced demand for transportation in both domestic and international markets," Managing Director Dimitris Gerogiannis said in the note.

Aegean bid unsuccessfully this month for its main competitor Olympic Airlines [OLY.UL], which is being privatised.

Passengers on Aegean's domestic flights rose 9 percent last year while international routes saw a 24 percent annual jump.

Aegean has been renewing its fleet since going public in 2007. Its shares have fallen about 11 percent so far this year, roughly in line with a 13 percent fall in Greece's general stock index .ATG.

Some new information in the article below. `A. Vgenopoulos: "Willing to Give 49% to the State if Asked"


And all for a healthy profit of course. Quite contradictory messages we are hearing...

I fail to understand why Papandreos wants the greek state to be the owner of an aircraft company, be it only for a part of it.

It is quite obvious to me that Greece is in dire need for cash to pay off some state debt. Why he thinks he has the luxury to spend euros in the aviation business and why he thinks this is the job of the greek state in the first place is surreal IMHO.

It looks like MIG will also buy the ground handling, as the deal with Swissport has failed.


FROM: http://www.timesoftheinternet.com/55426.html
Greek carrier to be sold entirely to MIG: state TV

ATHENS (AFP)

Greek-Emirates buyout group Marfin Investment will acquire all of troubled carrier Olympic Airlines after talks between the government and global handlers Swissport failed, Greek television said Friday.

Swissport had until Friday to reach agreement with the government after bidding 44.8 million euros (57.4 million dollars) for the ground handling assets of troubled Olympic which loses Greece hundreds of millions each year.

But under a deal reached last week Marfin Investment Group (MIG) was already prepared to step in for Swissport for the same amount, NET said.

The Greek development ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.

The country's largest investment group, MIG last month submitted offers of 45.7 million euro for Olympic's flight operations and 16.7 million euros for its maintenance, repair and overhaul assets.

Including the recovery of another 70 million euros set aside to create Pantheon, a temporary holding company for Olympic, the Greek state expects to make 177.2 million euros from the airline founded by legendary tycoon Aristotle Onassis five decades ago.

The company currently costs taxpayers 350 million euros a year to keep in the air, Development Minister Costis Hatzidakis said on Wednesday.

The sale which has been approved by the European Commission will be completed by September, the government said.

Thousands of OA staff have been offered compensation packages and other jobs in the Greek civil service.

The airline had long been the target of state aid concerns from the European Commission, which last year approved earlier privatisation plans while also demanding 850 billion euros in public money to be recovered.

Listed on the Athens Stock exchange, 58 percent of MIG's share capital is held by Greek strategic investors. International investors hold another 24 percent and Dubai Group owns the remaining 18 percent.

^^

What you think about this grk???

^^

What you think about this grk???

I don't know what to think yet. Swissport is a great company, so it's a shame that they didnt buy it. But then again, now all 3 parts will be commonly owned. Is this good or bad? I guess it's good that they all have a common owner, but then again, it may make the new OA "bloated". I mean, the new OA was supposed to be a "slimmed down version", more healthy. Hopefully this doesn't lead to financial problems in the future. But lets see what MIG does now. We don't know their plans for sure yet, and how they plan to incorporate the 3 companies into the new OA. Maybe they plan to keep them as 3 separate companies. We will know soon enough.

On another note, I am betting now that OA's new inflight menu (catering) will include products from fellow MIG owned Vivartia. :lol:

^^

Λες να έχουν γιαουρτάκια ΔΕΛΤΑ??? :lol:


I won't judge it yet. Time will show. I hope it was for the best though.

^^

Λες να έχουν γιαουρτάκια ΔΕΛΤΑ??? :lol:


I won't judge it yet. Time will show. I hope it was for the best though.

lol. Maybe. I think they used to have Fage. :lol: But later on, it would be a nice touch to serve ice cream on the long haul flights like the other airlines do.

And yeah, I'm not judging yet either. Like i said, I don't know what to think yet. We haven't heard the details of the plans yet.

Hi guys, I was dreaming a little bit about this new olympic.
I have flown with them many many times and thank god I have never had a bad experience. Actually, they are very reasonable pricewise. In fact, a few weeks ago i missed a flight from milan (long story), and i bought a last minute ticket with olympic for only 100 euros. Aegean or easyjet would have completely raped me in a similar situation.

Going back to my daydraming, I would love to see olympic with a completely new livery, something really cool but also classy.

Also, I was thinking that olympic would need at least the following fleet;

^ 25 Airbus 320/321 (I would personally love to have mostly airbus instead of boeing). I would suggest adding Zurich and Prague and maybe Hamburg. since both have a strong demand and there isnt much competition.

^ 6 Airbus 330 (I would drop the 340 since they are not as economical as the 330, especially during low seasons). I would use them as follows: 1 for JFK, 1 for Canada, 1 for South Africa, 1 for Paris, 1 for LHR, and I would add a seasonal route to Chicago.

^ 10 ATR split between ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 for domestic and islands.

What do you guys think?

:D

Hi guys, I was dreaming a little bit about this new olympic.
I have flown with them many many times and thank god I have never had a bad experience. Actually, they are very reasonable pricewise. In fact, a few weeks ago i missed a flight from milan (long story), and i bought a last minute ticket with olympic for only 100 euros. Aegean or easyjet would have completely raped me in a similar situation.

Going back to my daydraming, I would love to see olympic with a completely new livery, something really cool but also classy.

Also, I was thinking that olympic would need at least the following fleet;

^ 25 Airbus 320/321 (I would personally love to have mostly airbus instead of boeing). I would suggest adding Zurich and Prague and maybe Hamburg. since both have a strong demand and there isnt much competition.

^ 6 Airbus 330 (I would drop the 340 since they are not as economical as the 330, especially during low seasons). I would use them as follows: 1 for JFK, 1 for Canada, 1 for South Africa, 1 for Paris, 1 for LHR, and I would add a seasonal route to Chicago.

^ 10 ATR split between ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 for domestic and islands.

What do you guys think?

As far as aircraft types, I'm not sure as I haven't looked into ranges etc of each type and version/model. But I would like to see Airbus be the dominant supplier, so as to support European industry.

As for routes, obviously all local routes should be maintained.
Routes to major European destinations..the Londons & Paris' etc.
Routes throughout the Balkans should also be a priority. Perhaps though after the economic crisis has past.
Once these are settled, I'd like to see re-establishment of flights to North America & Australia.
As well as adding new routes to the Middle East..Dubai, Doha, and even to Asia to places such as China and India.
Even a weekly flight to South Africa were a large Greek diaspora resides might be viable.

However, before even thinking of a new fleet and routes, my main priority would be service both on and off aircraft, and in flight services(which would come with a new fleet). You can have the newest shiniest aircraft in the world, but if your staff are rude and arrogant and don't make customers feel welcome and satisfied, there's no point in having the newest shiniest aircraft.

^^

In my opinion from my travels, Olympic airlines had really nice staff so far. I hope they stay the same. And I think they will because almost all the crews will stay the same.

Olympic should follow Aegean Airlines steps. The majority of their aircraft are Airbus, and the Boeing remained will be sold.

Aegean Airlines fleet consists of 14 AIRBUS A320, 2 AIRBUS A321, 1 BOEING 737-300, 8 BOEING 737-400 and 6 AVRO RJ 100 jets manufactured by BAE Systems (British Aerospace).

Aegean has ordered a total of 27 AIRBUS A320/321 aircraft that will be gradually delivered by 2010. Four out of the 27 aircraft belong to the A321 family, accommodate a total of 195 passengers and will be used by Aegean to cover a wider range of destinations from 2008.

source: http://www.aegeanair.com/content.aspx?page=39

If you guys go over to airliners forum, there is a good overview on the MIG topic. Indeed good news. The best of luck with everything.

^^

Thank you :okay:

According to someone on Airliners forum:

"Apparently, the OA pilots will not be submitting their job applications to MIG individually but as a union group.

Additionally, they want the government to guarantee each one of them, position in the Greek Civil Aviation Authority, otherwise, they will go on 4 48hour strikes to make their point."

I honestly don't think MIG will go for this. They are trying to get away from the unions. I think they just may end up hiring other pilots. The 8 day strike proposed sounds harsh, but I think that they have reached their end.

In my opinion they should not hire any new pilots. The Olympic Airlines pilots have lots of experience. It will be a major mistake.