THE CYPRIOT national carrier, Cyprus Airways suspended all of its flying operations on January 9, after the European Commission (EC) ordered the airline to pay back €65 million in illegal state aid.
The EC said in a statement: “Cyprus Airways has received large quantities of public money since 2007, but was unable to restructure and become viable without continued state support. Therefore, injecting additional public money would only prolong the struggle without achieving a turnaround. Companies need to be profitable based on their own merits and ability to compete, and cannot, and should not rely on taxpayers’ money to stay in the market artificially,” Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said.
The EC said in a statement: “Cyprus Airways has received large quantities of public money since 2007, but was unable to restructure and become viable without continued state support. Therefore, injecting additional public money would only prolong the struggle without achieving a turnaround. Companies need to be profitable based on their own merits and ability to compete, and cannot, and should not rely on taxpayers’ money to stay in the market artificially,” Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said.