And over at Air Malta, it’s the Baguette Wars
So long
Cyprus’s national airline has just gone out of business after the EU ruled that the Cypriot government’s €31-million capital increase and €34-million rescue loan for Cyprus Airways constitutes state aid, which is illegal.
Finance Minister Harris Georgiades told a press conference today that without the money, Cyprus Airways is no longer “economically viable” and is to cease operations with immediate effect. EU regulators have ordered the Cypriot government to recover €65 million euros from the company.
The airline, which began operating 68 years ago, made its final flight tonight. Those who have pending Cyprus Airways flight tickets will have other arrangements made for them.
Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said: “Following an in-depth investigation, the European Commission has concluded that a restructuring aid package… for Cyprus’ ailing flag carrier Cyprus Airways gave the company an undue advantage over its competitors in breach of EU state aid rules. Cyprus Airways has received large quantities of public money since 2007 but was unable to restructure and become viable without continued state support.”
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“Cyrus’s National airline” – that boy in Brussells has gone too far.
Cyrus Airlines?
It’s CyPrus !!
Freudian slip.
Never mind the baguette. Last week I was stuck for 20 minutes at the Air Malta check-in with one piece of hand luggage and a printed boarding pass watching Ryan Air’s passengers on my right whizzing through.
Is this Air Malta’s fate too ?
There’s still hope for Air Malta, as long as the government is creative. Look at Slovenia and Air Baltic. They got creative and used different state owned companies to inject cash, and even used the state owned bank to exchange some of the debt. Yet surprisingly, the EC ruled that the law was respected: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-788_en.htm
And of course let us not forget Alitalia, which never seems to die despite hemorrhaging money like a shower head.
It would be interesting to see whether ticket prices to and from Cyprus go up/remain the same/go down. Cyprus is very much like Malta, an island that has opened up to many LCC’s through the years.
Regardless, still sad to see them go. They survived their fleet being bombed and having to move their hub from a newly built airport at Nicosia to Larnaca after the Turks invaded.
And in these difficult times for our national airline, this government employed 300 extra people. Now they are cutting down on the meals to compensate for this stupid move.
Cyprus’s not Cyrus’s right?
Cyrus has an airline now? :-) It pays off being a soldier of steel!
And meanwhile over on Times of Malta’s comments board, commenters are saying that this is all part of a conspiracy by the €USSR to make an €USSR airline.
What stupidity.
Never knew Cyrus had a national airline.
Cyrus. Baguette. Air Ways.
Naughty girl.
‘Cyrus’s national airline has just gone out of business’
Cyrus’s national airline? Wow he must be making a fast buck in Brussels.
I have an idea which I am sure Joseph Muscat will seize to save the airline.
Give those cabin crew a decent in-flight meal and get them to sell Maltese passports on board AirMalta planes in between serving bottles of water and baguettes to economy class passengers.
All this has happened because our Joe was not on time, advising the Cypriots to follow Dr Gonzi`s example set with Air Malta and not the other way round.
…. basta mpjeganjna l-bazulzli!!
Is your repeated use of Cyrus Airline some Freudian slip? :)
Cyrus’s airline? In his dreams.
[Daphne – Ooops.]
Just flipped through the channels and heard the end of the One news clip regarding the above: it said Cyprus Airways failed because it did not have a private investor.
Are we now making plans for Air Malta to go through the same and be saved at the last minute by our new best investor China?
Maybe the bed has been made and we are preparing to lay in it?
I would not be surprised, if China were to be the new investor. At this rate, in a few years time, we will all be comrades.
This was the same policy the Mintoff regime took, but on a much smaller scale. Seems like the Muscat regime might be doing it on a bigger scale.
Baguette or no baguette, what smacks of conflict of interest is how Air Malta economy passengers now get a bottle of Kristal water – bottled by the General Soft Drinks Company which Air Malta chairman Maria Micallef runs as her day job – and no longer Fontana.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/mobile/view/20150112/local/air-malta-no-conflict-of-interest-over-flight-water.551588
The cheek. Sky Gourmet is part owned by dawk l-iswitchers tas-Seabank.
The sign of a mediocre management without any idea about airlines and travel businesses.
We must consider ourselves lucky that in that we never had major economic problems.http://www.theworldfolio.com/news/malta-plays-its-cards-right/3512/
[Daphne – What do you mean ‘never had economic problems’, David? We had massive economic problems in the 1970s and 1980s.]
I mean to my knowledge, at least in the last 30 years, we had never any major economic crisis as recently experienced by Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland.
[Daphne – A good reason to support the Labour Party, then, David, wouldn’t you say?]
Well if you thonk so, go ahead, though your comment does not necessarily follow from what I stated.
Stupid idiotic E.U rules on state aid. They are ridiculous.
No, they’re not. Without those rules, it’s the Drydocks all over again.
Yesterday’s flight to Amsterdam /Brussels was delayed because of the bad weather and passengers were left with no food except the baguette and water for more than 5 hours.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20150112/local/cyprus-airways-grounding-is-wakeup-call-for-air-malta-mhra.551627