ATHENS (AP) — Greece's transport minister has warned that national carrier Olympic Airlines faces a dim future amid mounting speculation that it will be closed down within a few months.

In a series of carefully worded statements late, last Friday and over the weekend, Costis Hadzidakis reaffirmed the government's commitment to keep the airline aloft.

But he also stressed that the government would protect the interests of Olympic employees and the Greek public if the carrier is shut down — something the Greek media has widely interpreted as a sign of its imminent closure.

Hadzidakis' statement came after a Friday meeting in Brussels with EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot and following a recent legal complaint by Ireland's low-cost carrier Ryanair Holdings against the European Commission concerning Olympic.

The complaint, filed late last month, charges that the commission has failed to recover hundreds of millions of euros worth of illegal state-aid to Olympic.

"After the lawsuit by Ryanair against the commission, the situation for Olympic has become even more difficult," Hadzidakis said.

The commission has taken Greece to court twice demanding the return of more than €700 million in illegal state subsidies to the carrier — a sum that Greece says makes it impossible to find investors for the hoped-for privatisation of the airline.

Late last year, a Greek court awarded Olympic €563.9 million in compensation from the Greek state for violating an existing contract relating to its facilities at Athens' old international airport.

Since being appointed Transport Minister in September, Hadzidakis has been trying to negotiate with the EU to see if the Greek court award could potentially offset a large part of the commission's demands.

In his statement Saturday, Hadzidakis said that none of the estimated 8,500 workers at Olympic will lose their jobs and that none of the Greek islands would lose their air links to the mainland.

He also pledged that the government would ensure that Olympic is not replaced by another monopoly carrier on domestic routes. Recently-listed Aegean Airlines is widely seen as benefiting from a potential closure of Olympic.

Since first taking office in March 2004, the centre-right New Democracy government has been critical of past mismanagement at Olympic, highlighting that the carrier costs Greek taxpayers some €300,000 ($442,830) a day.