THE LOUIS Group is in consultations with its lawyers to discuss the government's plans go against a Supreme Court decision, and award the franchise for airport duty-free shops to Cyprus Airways (CY) at any cost. Louis was one of several companies which won a Supreme Court battle earlier this month to block government plans to give CY a renewed contract for the shops at the island's two airports without putting the franchise out to tender. The Court ruled the contract should be put out to tender when it was due for renewal next year. But Finance Minister Takis Klerides on Wednesday said the Council of Ministers would find a way around the court decision by passing legislation, which would allow the government to give the contract back to the national carrier. Louis marketing manger and spokesman George Michaelides told the Cyprus Mail yesterday they would wait to see what course the government would take, but added the company was already consulting with its lawyers about the Finance Minister's comments. We have the Supreme Court's decision, which for us is crystal clear and there can be no doubt about it, Michaelides said. Earlier this month, the Court ruled that the renewal of the contract to run the duty free shops at the island's two airports, which CY has held since 1996, should be put out to tender, as should all government contracts involving a public interest. CY's contract for the duty free shops expires in May 2001, and the airline was on the brink of renewing, when Louis and other interested parties challenged the procedure. The action was not directed against Cyprus Airways, but against the government. CY would be entitled to compete for the contract, but on a level playing field with other companies. The loss of the duty free shops would be a major blow to the airline, which has seen its profits shoot up dramatically since it took over the contract. In the first eight months of 1996 the duty free shops yielded £500,000 in revenue. In 1997, the shops made a profit of £800,000, in 1998 £2.5 million, and last year £3.9 million. CY sources said the Finance Minister was not going to do anything illegal, and that awarding the duty free shops to the airline was the only assistance the national carrier gets from the state. Airline spokesman Tassos Angelis said yesterday the government was committed to renewing the contract with CY. What Cyprus Airways has done for the duty free shops is of benefit to the government and to passengers as well, he said. The duty free shops are bigger and better. CY estimates it has doubled the profit from the duty free shops in the past five years.

USA main ROC passenger source

Royal Olympic Cruises, ROC, which recently took delivery of the first new Greek-flag cruise ship in over a decade, has the USA supply up to 60% of its passengers in summer for its cruising season in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean seas, and more than 80% in the winter, when it cruises in the Caribbean and South America. The strongest European country source is France, following by the United Kingdom.

The tender board has accepted a bid from the Louis group for its 81.34 per cent stake in Nicosia's Hilton Hotel. Louis offered a record £23.6 million for the hotel, nearly six times the price of the lowest bid, put forward by the Constantinou Brothers. Government assessment fixes the hotel's assets at £37 million, but debts of £22 million owed by current owners, the Cyprus Tourism Development Company, reduce its practical value to £22 million. Given that the CTDC was de-listed from the Cyprus Stock Exchange in May for failing to make a quarter of its 3 million shares available to the public ? the question on many analysts' lips is why is the Louis bid so high.

Louis executive Costakis Louis was not available for comment yesterday, but he may be clinging to the fact that 19 per cent of the Hilton is privately owned, therefore secure from the CTDC debts, and as the capital's only 5- star hotel, it operates a niche market monopoly. Louis tried, unsuccessfully, to buy the Hilton last year, possibly another reason for the large amount offered this time. "Last year they only bid £4.10 a share, which was not enough. The government complained and they put it up to about £4.50, but they still didn't get it. This year the bid was nearly double that, at £9.30 a share," said Nicos Lakoufis, secretary of the CTDC. The CTDC was trading at £7.60 before falling off the CSE index. It was at that point that the government decided to rid itself of its stake in the hotel.

Secrecy has compounded suspicion about the actual motives behind such a high offer, given the need to re-apply for a CSE listing, as well as reverse the hotel's worrying pattern at losing money.Nevertheless, observers have been expecting the Louis bid to be approved, purely because it outstripped all the others. The board's decision must be approved by Minister of Finance, Takis Klerides who was yesterday unavailable for comment. The matter will then be passed on to the Council of Ministers. It was not raised at yesterday's meeting.

In theory the completion process should not take longer than two weeks, but Lakoufis was not optimistic about the reality. "How long is a piece of string?" was his comment. Rival bids of £16.52 million were put forward by Fortune Property, of £14 million by SKR Partners and £9.6 million by the Sharelink group.

A GREEK couple had a brush with death on Monday night when their yacht collided with the Louis-owned cruise liner _Princesa Cypria_ in the Aegean. The ship stopped and searched for the passengers of the yacht for more than an hour, only to discover that the couple had made their way back to port by dinghy and were both safe and well. Their rented yacht sank without trace. Questions have been raised over why the couple did not see the lights of the cruise liner, which was carrying some 820 passengers on its way to the Greek island of Kos from the port of Nisiros. A statement from Louis yesterday said the _Princesa Cypria_ was on its regular five-day cruise to the Greek islands and was leaving Nisiros at around 11.30pm when the yacht strayed into its path a mile and a half from shore "It was a strange situation," Louis marketing manager said George Michaelides . "How can you not see a huge ship in front of you full of lights?" He said he did not know if the yacht itself was lit at the time because the investigation into the exact circumstances of the collision had not yet been completed. Michaelides said the _Princesa Cypria _stopped to assist the Greek coastguard with the search for the yacht's occupants for more than an hour until it emerged that the couple had headed straight for shore in a dinghy. "We stopped and searched but there was no trace of them," Michaelides said. He said it appeared the couple had reached shore quickly and had not been injured in the collision. The _Princesa Cypria _continued its journey to Kos where it was given the all clear by the Greek authorities to continue to the island of Lesbos, Michaelides said. The cruise liner will return to Limassol on schedule on Friday evening. Michaelides said yachts were a common problem for cruise ship captains in and around ports near the Greek islands.

"Thank God there were no victims in this case," he said.

' From  Cyprus Mail

Olympic Voyager sets sail June 24, 2000: Billed as the world's fastest cruiseship, (not including QE2 as she is a liner!) Royal Olympic's OLYMPIC VOYAGER, started her commercial life with a seven day cruise from Athens. The 836-berth, 25,000 gt vessel, the first new cruiseship for a decade to fly the Greek flag, is the first of two sisterships being built for Royal Olympic by German shipyard Blohm + Voss. They are based on a frigate hull design evolved by the shipyard, specialists in naval contracts. In an inaugural trip from Athens to the Greek islands Olympic Voyager reached 29 knots and is capable of 32 knots.

The world's fastest cruiseship is set to sail into Piraeus harbour on Wednesday and be officially launched by Greek President Costis Stephanopoulos.
The Olympic Voyager, the latest and most significant addition to Royal Olympic Cruises' (ROC) fleet, was built at the Blohm+Voss shipyards in Hamburg. It is the first of two vessels ordered by the firm and represents a revolution in the shipping sector, particularly as it is able to reach a speed of 30 knots. The second vessel is due to be delivered in April next year.
The Olympic Voyager weighs 25,000 tons, measures 59 feet in length and 48 feet in width and has a service speed of 28 miles. Passengers will be able to stroll across its six decks and enjoy a swim in its pool, which measures 7,500 square feet. The ship can carry 480 passengers and its staff will number 340.
The Olympic Voyager's cruises have been named "Cruises through three continents". With the first departing on June 24, the seven-day cruises will leave from Piraeus at 4pm and stop at Istanbul, Kusadasi, Patmos, Rhodes, Haifa, Alexandria, Mykonos and return to Piraeus at 6am the following Saturday. They enable guests to visit three continents, namely Europe, Asia and Africa, and four countries.

Costakis Loizou, Chairman of Louis Cruise Lines Limited, told the General Meeting of the shareholders of the company in Nicosia that the two companies together will enter the new Millennium with an ownership of 15 vessels and management of another 5, thus giving them a strong position in the cruise business in Europe and the rest of the world. He said that the delivery in 2000 and 2001 of the two high-speed cruise newbuildings (OLYMPIC VOYAGER and OLYMPIC EXPLORER) being constructed by BLOHM+VOSS in Hamburg for Royal Olympic Cruises, will add a new dimension to cruise itineraries. The 836 passenger state of the art cruise liner Olympic Voyager, due to start cruising in the Eastern Mediterranean in summer 2000, will cruise at speeds of 27 knots, which is 8-10 knots faster than most competitors’ cruise ships. This means that Royal Olympic Cruises will offer itineraries that visit more ports of call and afford passengers more time to tour places of interest during the traditional seven and eleven day cruises. For example the Olympic Voyager will be able to offer a 7 day cruise with the same itinerary that other ships currently offer on 11 day voyages.

Louis Cruise Lines Ltd., since August 1999 listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange, has reported 34% increase in net profit for the first half of 1999. In addition to the recent acquisition of 70% of ROC Holdings Inc., during the last month Louis Cruise Lines Limited has also announced the chartering of the SAPPHIRE as from 28.12.99 to FRANCE CROISIERES and the purchase of SERENADE (ex Mermoz). In addition the S/S AUSONIA is undergoing refurbishment and has been chartered to FIRST CHOICE a leading U.K Tour Operator, while the S/S THE EMERALD continues its charter with Thompson Holidays

According to Costakis Loizou, Royal Olympic Cruises and Louis Cruise Lines will cooperate in order to take advantage of synergies and economies of scale both in terms of cost and revenue.

Meanwhile Royal Olympic Cruise Lines has announced the new Board of Directors which consists of: -Harry Haralambopoulos - Chairman (Former Deputy Chairman of ROC and Former CEO and President of Celebrity Cruises) -Costakis Loizou - Deputy Chairman (Executive Chairman of The Louis Organization) -Andreas Potamianos - Deputy Chairman (Former Co-chairman of ROC) -Stelios Kiliaris - President and CEO (Managing Director of Louis Cruise Lines and former Minister of Commerce Industry and Tourism of Cyprus) -Bob Melnick - Member (Fund Manager) -Demetris Krontiras - Member (Former President CITIBANK in Greece) -Christos Mavrellis - Member (Lawyer, former Minister of Finance and Minister of Communications and Public Works of Cyprus) -Michael Jolliffe - Member (Businessman) -Vakis Loizou - Member (Executive Vice Chairman of The Louis Organization) -Rex Harrington - Member (Former Director of Shipping Finance, Royal Bank of Scotland) -John Evangelides - Member (Former Managing Director HSBC Investment Bank) -Tassos Potamianos - Member (Lawyer/Businessman) -George Potamianos - Honorary President