“We would love to buy CY provided it serves both sides”
A TURKISH Cypriot entrepreneur has offered to purchase the debt-ridden Cypriot state carrier Cyprus Airways after hearing that the airline was up for sale, claiming that if he did so the airline would serve both sides of the Green Line.
The offer by Turkish Cypriot entrepreneur Aziz Kent came after statements last Thursday from President Tassos Papadopoulos that the government was willing to sell its majority stake in Cyprus Airways, a statement that the government then qualified by saying it did not know who would want to take on such a loss-making venture.
“We’ve got many people who would love to buy Cyprus Airways provided it serves both sides,” Kent told the Sunday Mail from London yesterday, referring to the potential purchase as a “very good investment” and Cyprus as a “lucrative market”.
The offer comes only six months after Kent threatened to sue the Cyprus government for slander and damages to his reputation and business after they served him with a European arrest warrant for building on Greek Cypriot land. Kent denied the allegations, claiming that his Celebrity Hotel, which he opened in 1977, and his other properties were built on Turkish Cypriot property, to which he has the title deeds.
Kent said Cyprus Airways has been “serving Cyprus very well” but noted that under his ownership the airline could “go further to serve the whole of Cyprus” and would “be a bridge for peace”.
The Turkish Cypriot entrepreneur said that it was “no problem to raise the cash” and even suggested that the European Union could contribute towards the costs, although presumably if funds came from the EU the airline would have to be a private-public enterprise.
“The 259 million euros for the Turkish Cypriots from the EU could contribute to buying the airline,” Kent said, which he called “more than enough”, although he added that he would “first have to investigate the [airline’s] debts as well as how the government is involved in the company.”
Papadopoulos’ statement set off a flurry of speculation as to whether the company would be sold off to foreign investors. The airline has submitted a reconstruction plan to the European Union in which it would axe one fifth of employees and cut salaries in the hope of securing a £58 million loan to keep the company alive, although unions have said they will not accept the plan as it stands.
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