Aegean Airlines announced yesterday the conclusion of an agreement to buy 100% of rival company Olympic Air (OA), currently part of the Marfin Investment Group (MIG), for the price of € 72 million. The deal is subject to domestic and European Competition Authorities approval which will also determine the timing of its execution. Under the deal’s terms, Olympic Air will become a subsidiary of Aegean Airlines, but the two companies will keep their separate brand names and logos along with their flight programme, fleet and staff.

The integration of administrative functions is expected to lead to sizeable economies of scale, whereas fleet usage and network planning will be streamlined in order to improve connectivity, coverage and product offer. Theodoros Vassilakis, chairman of Aegean Airlines, highlighted that "the deal’s significant economic synergies will allow us to offer improved network coverage and more competitive prices to consumers. We hope that all Greeks will support this difficult, ambitious and absolutely necessary effort".

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