Qatar Airways said to be interested in acquiring Olympic

Qatar Airways and an air charter firm from the US are both reported to be interested in buying Greece’s troubled national carrier, Olympic Airlines, according to a report in Naftemporiki on Saturday.

Unnamed sources informed the newspaper that Qatar Airways and Chrysler Aviation – an aircraft charter firm in the US - have become the latest parties interested in acquiring the Greek airline. York Capital/Olympic investors - a Greek-US investor consortium - and a group of Greek shipowners have also expressed their initial interest in Olympic Airlines.

In September, the Greek government launched a tender to divide the business of the failing carrier into three divisions before selling them off. The divisions comprise the airline services, the ground handling operations and the technical and maintenance unit. Potential investors were given until the end of October to express an interest in bidding on the businesses.

Five firms have indicated their interest in bidding for the ground handling services division, including Chrysler Aviation, Flight Care, Goldair and Spain’s Swissport, the newspaper stated.

Greek Transport Ministry officials have declined to comment on the newspaper report.

On Friday, the government said it would be announcing the short list of applicants early the next week. Firms on the short list would be allowed to conduct due diligence on the airline and then submit non-binding bids before the end of November.

The European Commission has approved the plan to sell off the carrier’s business in three units, and has agreed to suspend legal action regarding state subsidies if the sale goes ahead.

www.qatarairways.com