Marfin Investment Group sells the airline Olympic Air to Aegean Airlines



The Greek group Marfin Investment Group (MIG), than work in various fields of the industry and the services and in the section of the transports through the participation of 89.4% in the shipowning group Attica and through the airline Olympic Air, has announced today the cession of this last society, of which it stops 100% of the capital, to the Greek airline Aegean Airlines. .

The agreement previews that Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines maintain the respective brands and that each company continuous to carry out own operating activities and own services independently being continued to have of own fleet and own staff. Gradually they will come instead melted the administrative activities and commercial and the technical services with the objective to realize synergies that allow a decrease of the costs and in order to improve I use it of the fleet and the respective Networks.

"In the 2009 - the managing director of the group MIG, Efthimios Bouloutas has commented - Marfin determined to acquire Olympic Air from the Greek government in the within of the process of privatization with the objective to recover to its ancient splendor the more representative Greek brand. Marfin is very proud of the fact to be succeeded to reach this objective in means of a very difficult economic conjuncture and over a period of relatively short time, creating a company with excellent levels of service, quality and reliability, with a very modern fleet. We consider that Marfin has carried out a fundamental role in the improvement of the level of services offered in the Greek market of the aerial transport".

"However - it has continued Bouloutas - the continuous one to deteriotate of national the economic situation through a been extended recession has lead to an unavoidable decline of the volumes of passengers deriving mainly from the reduction of the yield on hand of the national consumers. This, with the general unfavorable macroeconomic context in Southeastern Europe and a fort increase of the prices of the fuel, has returned the operation necessary for survival of the field of the Greek aerial transport. We believe - he has emphasized - than without the previewed operation, the continuous losses and the unavoidable contraction of the activities by the national carriers would have increased the interdependence of the Country in confront of the international carriers so putting to risk the field of the connections and tourism of Greece".

"Thanks to this agreement - it has concluded Bouloutas - we have contractually guaranteed the future I use of the Olympic brand, that it is part indispensable of the Greek patrimony, and we consider to have meanwhile meaningfully increased the possibilities of interconnection without interruption of Greece is on a national level that international. The sale is online with the announced strategy of MIG to concentrate on the Cores fundamental assets with positive that will create value for the shareholders since the economy of Greece is itself slowly resuming from the deepest recession of the last years".

The fleet of Olympic Air is constituted by 23 aircrafts, of which eight Airbus (of which three A319 and five A320), ten Bombardier Q400 and five Bombardier Dash-100, while that of Aegean Airlines is formed by 29 airplane, of which 22 Airbus A320, four Airbus A321 and three Airbus A319.