Olympic needs urgent solution
The government is determined to find a definitive and speedy solution to the problem of Olympic Airlines, making it one of its key priorities. The legal issues with the European Commission and the fact that it has suffered since 1994 when the first redemption effort was attempted make finding a solution imperative as soon as possible. On his way out of the prime minister’s office, new Transport Minister Costis Hatzidakis referred yesterday to pre-election statements by Costas Karamanlis about the company’s closure should there be no private investor found after an end to the dispute with the Commission. Sources suggest that pressure on the government to close the case is huge, as it is a wound that bleeds more and more each day. The accumulated losses of the group come to -1.58 billion, not including the losses of 2006 which are expected to top -120 million. The current conjunction which finds main opposition PASOK divided seems particularly favorable for any bold moves by the Transport Ministry’s new administration. However the political cost will be massive if the national airline closes down. The group employs thousands of people on a permanent and seasonal basis; they appear determined to proceed with drastic action. Olympic Airways-Services employs 2,800 people permanently and 3,500 on seasonal contracts; Olympic Airlines (which operates the company’s flights) has 2,000 permanent employees and 100 seasonal ones; and Olympic Aviation employs 450 people permanently and a few dozen on a seasonal basis. The European Court has ruled that Olympic received -540 million in illegal state subsidies, while the company is seeking the return of some -580 million from the state via courts of arbitration, so that the two sums cancel each other out.
