Cyprus Airways

Calina

Gone apparently. Entire operation suspended as unable to repay illegal state aid of 100m according to reports on twitter.

http://incyprus.philenews.com/en-gb/local-news/4422/43915/cyprus-airways-flight-programme-suspended

KCAccidental

good time for FR to buy!

smurfjed

good time for FR to buy!

Why buy someone else problems?

KCAccidental

to get a Cypriot AOC for cheap.

L1011

This is when you'd cherry-pick what to buy rather than buy the lot. AOC and slots are about all FR would want, leave behind the staff (who'll likely be unionised...) and the Airbus fleet along with the debt.

Calina

L1011 wrote: »

This is when you'd cherry-pick what to buy rather than buy the lot. AOC and slots are about all FR would want, leave behind the staff (who'll likely be unionised...) and the Airbus fleet along with the debt.

thought they weren't going to bother...I suppose things have changed with this suspension of ops. Cyprus is EU so I'm not sure an AOC makes a massive change to them either way.

L1011

Calina wrote: »

thought they weren't going to bother...I suppose things have changed with this suspension of ops. Cyprus is EU so I'm not sure an AOC makes a massive change to them either way.

The reason cited for getting a Cypriot AOC was to run flights to places outside the EU that an Irish airline wouldn't get traffic rights for otherwise - Russia and the other former Eastern Bloc states that aren't EU I imagine.

I believe Moscow is a huge market for inbound traffic to Cyprus, for instance.

Calina

L1011 wrote: »

The reason cited for getting a Cypriot AOC was to run flights to places outside the EU that an Irish airline wouldn't get traffic rights for otherwise - Russia and the other former Eastern Bloc states that aren't EU I imagine.

I believe Moscow is a huge market for inbound traffic to Cyprus, for instance.

Fair point and yeah, there has been a lot of traffic from Cyprus to Moscow. I thought that had died off with some of the downturn. I thought I had a look at the figures a few years ago for the island as a whole...must see if I still have those figures.

L1011

Calina wrote: »

Fair point and yeah, there has been a lot of traffic from Cyprus to Moscow. I thought that had died off with some of the downturn. I thought I had a look at the figures a few years ago for the island as a whole...must see if I still have those figures.

Well, anything to/from Russia is going to be fairly badly hit right now - but with UTAir and Transaero in trouble its still an opportunity in adversity, of sorts.

smurfjed

run flights to places outside the EU that an Irish airline wouldn't get traffic rights for otherwise

Thanks, but are these routes worth the hassle associated with an unionised airline? I would think that Ryanair Cyprus as a new AOC would make a lot more sense.

Zonda999

L1011 wrote: »

Well, anything to/from Russia is going to be fairly badly hit right now - but with UTAir and Transaero in trouble its still an opportunity in adversity, of sorts.

For sure and who knows within a couple of years the Russian situation may have entirely blown over. By that time also, some of the Russian LoCo's may have gone to the wall leaving potential in a sizable market open for Ryanair. With the totality of FR's orders they have to be looking beyond the EU IMHO. Russia and Israel still represent the best options for Ryanair at the moment I think.

L1011

smurfjed wrote: »

Thanks, but are these routes worth the hassle associated with an unionised airline? I would think that Ryanair Cyprus as a new AOC would make a lot more sense.

Asset stripping now should allow them to get what they want without the existing contracts, or even the existing staff. Once the airline is grounded its not really saleable as a single unit; but there's slots and traffic rights associated with that AOC.

Most (but not all) foreign-to-home-country AOCs airlines hold or control around the world are from buying assets rather than new formations, not that precedent has to be followed!

billie1b

L1011 wrote: »

Well, anything to/from Russia is going to be fairly badly hit right now - but with UTAir and Transaero in trouble its still an opportunity in adversity, of sorts.

Not really, Cyprus is a little money haven for the Russian mob and rich people, even with the downturn them guys never seem to be short on cash

Calina

billie1b wrote: »

Not really, Cyprus is a little money haven for the Russian mob and rich people, even with the downturn them guys never seem to be short on cash

Took a hit a few years ago when the deposits were hit for bank capitalisation problems though.

billie1b

Calina wrote: »

Took a hit a few years ago when the deposits were hit for bank capitalisation problems though.

Nothing compared to what they had in the bank, the most of them got 'deals' from the banks anyways

Tenger

smurfjed wrote: »

Thanks, but are these routes worth the hassle associated with an unionised airline? I would think that Ryanair Cyprus as a new AOC would make a lot more sense.

A holding company would buy Cyprus airlines...then the AOC could be sold on to FR...leaving the staff high and dry unless they sign up to Cyprus Airlines (UK) or someone similar

basill

MOL is never one to miss an opportunity so I predict he will do similar to when Malev went bust ie: flood the market with cheap tickets and lots of sound bites of how he is "helping" stranded travellers. He can then negotiate an AOC or whatever he needs in the coming weeks to get access to Russia - if that's what he really wants.

Bit of an own goal by the EU though especially in the context of the Greeks voting.

LXFlyer

The Cypriot Finance Minister is quoted by the BBC as follows:

"The company has ceased being a viable entity, and cannot continue to operate," said finance minister Harris Georgiades.

He said there would be alternative arrangements covering Cyprus Airways flights from Saturday.

I suspect Aegean may take up some of the slack.