CORRECTED - FACTBOX-Greece's Olympic Airlines to shut down, relaunch

(Corrects number of Olympic Airlines staff in 13th paragraph)

Sept 17 (Reuters) - Greece on Wednesday announced it will close down ailing state carrier Olympic Airlines [OLY.UL] and relaunch it under a new structure after failed attempts to find a buyer. [ID:nLH463836]

Following are facts about Olympic Airlines and its predecessor Olympic Airways.

HISTORY

- Olympic Airways was founded by shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis in 1957 after he took over Greek national airline TAE.

- Onassis sold Olympic back to the government for about $68 million in 1974 after his son Alexander died in a plane crash.

- Mismanagement led the carrier into financial hardship in the 1980s. Unions often struck for trivial issues. Staff numbers were swollen by vote-hungry governments and the airline became severely indebted.

RESTRUCTURING

- In 1994, the EU Commission requested the airline's restructuring and an end to government subsidies. The plan called for early retirement of staff, a three-year wage freeze, a 158 million euro capital injection and debt relief.

- By 1996 the Commission realised the plan was not being fully implemented and prohibited further capital injections.

- Brussels approved another restructuring plan in 1998. A year later the government hired British Airways subsidiary Speedwing to turn around Olympic but the plan failed.

- A 2000 tender to sell Olympic proved fruitless.

- A further restructuring in 2003 established Olympic Airlines, a slimmed down version of Olympic Airways, and the government launched a new sale effort.

OLYMPIC AIRWAYS

- Following the spin-off of Olympic Airlines, Olympic Airways was renamed Olympic Airways Services. Its current operations include ground handling, cargo handling, aviation training and technical maintenance.

OLYMPIC AIRLINES

- Shares are wholly owned by the state which in December 2004 hired Lazard, National Bank, Alpha Finance and Emporiki Investment Bank as advisers to the latest privatisation effort.

- Operates 37 aircraft to 36 domestic and 36 overseas destinations and has about 4,500 staff. Employees total about 8,000 when combined with Olympic Airways and seasonal personnel.

- In the red since its launch. Reported net loss of 23 million euros in 2003 and 87 million in 2004.

- Main domestic competitor is privately held Aegean Airlines (AGNr.AT). (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by David Cowell)