Struggling Greek flag carrier Olympic Airways has confirmed an improved headline financial performance for 2002 by revealing that it slashed losses for the full year and nearly reached break-even.
A spokesman for the airline says that Olympic posted a loss of €8.7 million ($10.5 million) in 2002, a vast improvement on the €144 million the company lost in 2001.
Reports suggest that this figure includes a sizeable part of a €146 million compensation payment relating to its relocation to the new Athens International Airport, although the spokesman could not immediately provide further financial details.
However the loss-making carrier has been saying since the summer of 2002 that restructuring measures were helping to stem the tide of losses. It repeated this assertion in the summer when detailing losses for 2001.
After recent years of heavy losses, Olympic's accumulated loss runs to more than €500 million.
Greece will later this month inaugurate Olympic Airlines, a revamped debt-free successor airline comprising Olympic's existing flight operations: the mainline carrier, regional arm Olympic Aviation and charter carrier Macedonian Airlines.
Source: Flight Daily News