Greek carriers Aegean Airlines and Cronus Airlines are in the final stage of completing their merger, expected within two months.
Aegean's code will be applied to all flights - 16 domestic routes and nine international services - from the end of this month, says Antonis Simigdalas, Aegean chief operating officer.
The merger will see Aegean, majority owned by the Vassilakis Group, becoming majority owner of the combined operation, with a fleet of Boeing 737-300/400s (Cronus) and Avro RJ100s (Aegean).
The combined operation will look to co-operate with fellow Greek operators, primarily Olympic Airways, through the current economic difficulties. "The only way out [of the current crisis] is frequency rationalisation," says Simigdalas. "We want to stop any waste and unnecessary competition. We should find ways to co-operate to incorporate the strengths of each carrier. This could include a radical approach not thought of before 11 September," he says.
Aegean hopes that privatisation of Olympic with its acquisition by Greek scheduled and charter operator Axon will go ahead. The deal has been held up by issues, including workforce cuts, but the Greek Government is shortly due to issue a progress report.
Aegean has axed frequencies by up to 25% for the winter, but is adding two routes - to Stuttgart and Düsseldorf.
Source: Flight International
