Aegean Airlines (AGNr.AT), Greece's largest carrier, posted an 8.4 million euro ($11.5 million) loss in the first nine months of the year, hurt by an economic crisis at home. Aegean, which agreed in February to team up with former state carrier Olympic Air to cut costs, said on Monday domestic passenger volume had dropped by an annual 15 percent to 2.5 million flights, as Greeks cut travel spending.
"Our financial performance continues to be adversely affected by the severe recession of the Greek economy," Managing Director Dimitris Gerogiannis said in a statement, adding that Greek consumers had become more "price-sensitive". Aegean's results were also burdened by a 6.6 million euro tax charge imposed by Greece's cash-strapped government on big business.
Full-year results will also be in the red, Gerogiannis warned. "The fourth and seasonally weak quarter is expected to be loss-making, leading with certainty to a substantially negative result for the year as a whole," he said in the statement. European Union regulators are still seeking concessions from Aegean and Olympic [OLY.UL] before deciding whether to allow their planned merger.
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