State aid: Olympic Airlines and Olympic Airways: two state aid decisions
- Greece
- 09/29/2008
- Roschier, Attorneys Ltd. - Finland
The Commission has found that a plan submitted by the Greek authorities whereby certain assets of Olympic Airlines and Olympic Airways Services will be privatized in bundled form does not involve any State aid, provided that the commitments given by the Greek authorities are fully complied with. Both Olympic Airways Services and Olympic Airlines are Greek state-owned chronically indebted companies active in the air transport sector and have been the subject of several negative Commission decisions in recent years. After an in-depth investigation into the finances of Olympic Airways Services and Olympic Airlines, the Commission concluded that since 2005 Greece has granted illegal and incompatible State aid to the companies. In a separate but related decision, the Commission approved the Greek authorities’ plans to privatize certain assets of Olympic Airlines and Olympic Airways Services in bundled form. Thus, the Commission declared that the privatization process as submitted by Greece will not amount to State aid. In reaching this conclusion the Commission found that the announced sale processes are in effect no different than any other type of sale of asset in market terms, taking into account the specific circumstances of the case and having regard to the particularities of the aviation sector, regulatory constraints and the particular geography of the Greek market.
Source: Commission Press Release 17/9/2008
