FORCED RESTRUCTURING

Olympic Air was created in October 2009 as part of a Greek government plan to restructure Olympic Airlines, its former national flag carrier. The restructuring was insisted on by the European Commission, which had previously forced Olympic Airlines to pay back aid it had illegally received from the Greek government.

The Greek government decided that, given Olympic Airlines persistent financial difficulties, it should be allowed to fail and be replaced by a privately owned airline, Olympic Air, which could buy up much of the old airline's assets while not retaining its liabilities.