Cyprus Airways has declined a request from the Greek Government to extend by two months its offer to acquire a majority share in financially ailing Olympic Airways, but the airline says it is still interested in buying a stake in the Greek carrier.
The Cypriot airline said the Athens authorities had ignored its request for a progress report on the negotiations with Greek airline Axon, the preferred bidder for Olympic. The Cyprus Airways argument is that the business plan it presented in June will no longer be appropriate at the end of October.
In particular the Cypriot national carrier, which was named as the second preferred bidder by privatisation advisor Credit Suisse First Boston, is concerned that Olympic's fleet of ageing Boeing 737-200s will be taken out of service from April because of European noise regulations, leaving any new buyer with little time to replace them.
Axon, meanwhile, says it is confident that a deal can be done with the Greek Government, although additional time is needed to resolve a number of outstanding issues, including planned cuts to the 7,000-strong workforce.
Source: Flight International
