The Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece -- Greek airline Aegean says it has agreed to purchase its main rival Olympic Air for (EURO)72 million ($94 million), nearly two years after an attempted merger was blocked by the European Commission on the grounds that the combined carrier could have monopolized the national market.
Under the purchase deal announced Monday, Olympic Air will become a subsidiary of Aegean and the two will maintain their own names and logos, as well as fleet and staff. Aegean said the agreement is pending approval from the competition authorities.
Aegean has 29 aircraft and serves 19 domestic and 51 international destinations. Olympic flies to 38 domestic and seven international destinations, with a fleet of 21 planes.
OA operates international services to Belgrade, Bucharest, Larnaca, Sofia, Tel Aviv, Tirana and Istanbul.
Furthermore, as part of its ongoing effort to offer its passengers an enhanced and smooth access to a series of worldwide destinations, Olympic Air has established a series of code-share agreements with global airlines, including Delta Airlines for flights to/from New York, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Orlando, Columbus, Cincinnati, Saint Louis, Tampa, Etihad Airways for flights to/from Abu-Dhabi, Johannesburg, Sydney and Melbourne, TAROM for flights from/to Iasi, Clouz-Napoka, Sibiou, Timisoara.
