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Government okays Olympic privatisation |
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Monday, 06 October 2008 |
Debt-laden Olympic Airlines of Greece has had its privatisation plans approved by parliament, though employees and unions remain unconvinced.
Protesting Olympic Airlines employees and representatives of the Greek Railway Organisation OSE were joined by the General Confederation of Workers of Greece, which declared a public utility strike in protest.
Olympic Airlines as it is now, was a result of the integration of all Olympic Airways and Olympic Aviation flight operations by Macedonian Airlines, which itself was renamed Olympic Airlines. It serves 78 destinations and has a fleet of 41.
The new plan involves the launch of a new private airline named Pantheon Airways, scheduled to start operations this month.
Pantheon will operate parallel to Olympic Airlines until, in April 2009, Olympic Airlines will be shut down and Pantheon will take over some of its routes.
Pantheon will then be renamed with "Olympic" added to the name, and Olympic's rings logo will also be used. The new Olympic will be freed of the old Olympic's debts. The number of jobs at the airline is supposed to shrink from 8000 to 1000 workers.
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