Centeno: Athens is ready to take over post-bailout
LISBON (Reuters) – Greece has corrected many of the structural imbalances that made it a “special case” within the eurozone, and it is ready to take charge of its economic decisions when its bailout ends in August, the chairman of the eurozone finance ministers group said yesterday. “Greece is a different country today,” Mario Centeno told a conference. “Greece has the conditions to take into its own hands the process of its economic and social development, within the euro framework, and can always count on European solidarity if it sticks to the path of internal responsibility.” through 14 Greek airports this year, its chief executive said yesterday. Fraport Greece, a consortium of Germany’s Fraport and Greek group Copelouzos, has operated 14 Greek airports including at popular tourist destinations Santorini and Rhodes since April last year. All 14 airports handled 27.6 million passengers last year, a 10.3 percent annual increase. Traffic rose by 11 percent to 6.25 million in the January-to-May period. Chief executive officer Alexander Zinell said this year’s rise was expected to be similar to last year’s. “We expect something, if we’re lucky, of twodigit [percentage rise],” he told reporters. Several carriers, including British Airways and Germania, launched new routes to the airports operated by Fraport ahead of the summer season. Zinell said Fraport was looking to attract more traffic over the winter, mainly for its most popular airports. Thessaloniki, Rhodes and Hania are the busiest airports, according to a presentation