Cyprus Airways’ Employees Agree to Salary Cuts
Cyprus’s loss-making national carrier, Cyprus Airways, will shed more than a quarter of its work force this year to save the airline from closure, senior officials said last month.
Earlier, labor unions at the state-controlled carrier said they accepted a restructuring proposal calling for some 500 voluntary redundancies among a work force of 1,800 and salary cuts across the board. The redundancies are expected to take effect in March.
As well, the state, which owns 70 percent of the Cyprus Airways Group, says it plans to spin off charter subsidiary Eurocypria to create a second, debt-free carrier.
Cyprus Airways had announced earlier that it would buy out Eurocypria, which was seen as only a fallback option to safeguard Cyprus’s air slots to major airports. But in the course of deliberations to save the group, it emerged as a viable alternative, second carrier for Cyprus.
The overhaul is required for Cyprus to get approval from the European Union to act as a guarantor for a 58-million-pound emergency loan the airline seeks.