Cyprus Airways Chairman resigns

Constantinos Loizides, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cyprus Airways, resigned his post on Wednesday night, ending weeks of speculation on when he would tender in his resignation in the face of mounting criticism over the handling of the troubled airline.

Loizides also resigned his post of vice president, member of the Board of Directors and Executive Adviser of the Hellenic Bank.

In a written statement, Loizides said that he had been at the receiving end of ‘multiple attacks in the recent past.’

‘These attacks focused on the organizations to which I have devoted my professional strength in the past years to help their progress and development,’ he said in the statement.

‘Respecting first of all these organization, which have trusted me, I decided to hand in my resignations’ from posts held, he added.

Concluding, he wished both organizations success in their objectives.

The resignation comes days after the Board of Directors of Cyprus Airways had withdrawn letters sent to air stewards making them redundant.

The Council of Ministers will convene today to fill the vacant positions of CAIR’s BoD, discuss the sale of Hellas Jet and reinforce the implementation of the Company’s strategic plan, which aims at reviving the Company’s financial health.

Analysts consider the resignation of Loizides from HB to be positive, expecting that this would lead to a reorganisation in the Group along the lines of that occurred at BOC.

As for CAIR, press reports suggest that the government may appoint Pavlos Savvides, former Minister of Communications in the Vassiliou administration and former Chairman of the CSE as Executive Chairman of the troubled airline.