Aviation-Greek Airline companies

[pilotos]

Active Airlines in Greece (2010):


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Commercial Airlines

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International awards :

• Bronze Award: Airline of the Year - 2000/2001
• Gold Award: Airline of the Year - 2004/2005
• Silver Award: Airline of the Year - 2006/2007
• ERA's Palme d'Or award - 2007
• Gold Award: Airline of the year - 2008/2009

History of the company :

Aegean Airlines was founded as Aegean Aviation in 1987. It was originally a VIP/business air operation specializing in executive and air ambulance services.

On 17 February 1992, it became the first airline to be issued with a Greek independent air operator's license. After it was bought by Vasilakis Group in 1994, Aegean Aviation commenced VIP flights from Athens all over the world with wholly owned Lear jet aircraft.

The Aegean Airlines title was adopted with the start of scheduled passenger services at the end of May 1999. Its first commercial flights were from Athens to Heraklion, Crete and Thessaloniki, Macedonia, with 2 brand new wholly owned BAe 146/RJ100.

During 2000 Aegean bought Air-Greece. After an agreement in March 2001 to merge Aegean and Cronus Airlines, it operated for a while as Aegean Cronus Airlines until full integration. Since 2005, the airline is in partnership with Lufthansa, offering participation to the Miles & More program. And as of June 30 Aegean Airlines has become a full member of the Star Alliance.

The Aegean Airlines current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:

• 18+5(Ordered) Airbus A320-232
• 4 Airbus A321-232
  
• 6 BAE Avro RJ100
  

Leased Aircrafts:

• 2 ATR-72-500 (Operated by Swiftair)
• Total 30 + 5

Average Age of Aegean Airlines fleet:3.7 Years

Passengers statistics

image hosted on flickr

Source-Airliners.gr

pictures of Aegean Airlines airplanes:

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History of the company :

ArGo Airways is a regional airline located in Volos, which provides
a seaplane service as an alternative mode of transportation in the region.
ArGo Airways offers short haul flights interconnecting Volos, Thessaloniki,
Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonissos.


current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:

• 1 DHC-3T Single Otter

• Total 1

pictures of Argo Airways Seaplanes:

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[B]History of the company :

Astra Airlines was founded in 2008 and is based in Thessaloniki airport "Macedonia". Main shareholders of the airline is Ioannis Zlatanis, founder of "Interviator Ltd" and Anastasios Zirinis, whom was in the past CEO of Greek flag carrier Olympic Airlines.

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:

• 2 BAe 146-300

Leased Aircrafts:

• 2 Airbus A320-200 (operated by Air Via)

• Total 4

Average Age of Astra Airlines fleet: 18.6 years

pictures of Astra Airlines airplanes:

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History of the company :

Athens Airways was launched on 2008. Athens Airways is a regional airline based in Athens International airport "Eleftherios Venizelos".CEO and owner of the airline is Mr Sakis Andrianopoulos.

Athens Airways leased on October 2008 4 EMBRAER ERJ-145 from "Air stream International Group", a company based in the UK. After the aircrafts arrived in Athens the airline received its Air Operator Certificate – AOC on 16/01/2009 from the Greek Civil Aviation authority (ΥΠΑ).

The first flight of the company was from Athens to Alexandroupolis.The initial investment accounts for 12 million Euro, while in the next 3 years was scheduled to reach 25 million.Main target of the airline is to become the most important regional airline in Greece by connecting all major cities and islands.


current fleet:

Leased Aircrafts:

• 2 Embraer ERJ-145
• 1 Dash 8-300
• 2 ATR 42-300 (Operated by Hemus Air)

• 5 Total

Average Age of Athens Airways fleet: 10.6 years

Passengers statistics

pictures of Athens Airways airplanes:

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image hosted on flickr



History of the company :

Blue Bird Airways is a private airline mainly involved in schedule & charter flights launched at Greece from 2008 with headquarters based in Heraklion International Airport and branch office in Chania International Airport.

Blue Bird Airways holds a worldwide EU-OPS-1 (AOC).

Blue Bird Airways was awarded international lines form Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Corfu and Rhodes to Moscow after participation in competition by Civil Aviation Authority.To run the lines the company leased two McDonnell Douglas MD-83 from meelad air (SX-BPP, SX-BLL).

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:

• 1 King Air C90A
• 1 Cessna Citation CJ2
• 1 PA31

Leased Aircrafts:

• 2 McDonnell Douglas MD-83 (meelad air

• Total 5

Average Age of fleet: leased aircraft have an average age of 18 Years

pictures of BlueBird airways airplanes:

The MD83 that is currently used by Bluebird, in flight with previous owner SkyExpress, also a Cretan airline.

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History of the company :

The airline was started in 2002 as a Cyprus Airways subsidiary and the first flight was operated on 24 June 2003 from Athens. At the end of the first year of operation, they had completed 3,855 flights and carried over 250,000 passengers. Due to heavy losses, Hellas Jet suspended all scheduled flights from 10 May 2005. In January 2006, the airline announced it would refocus on charter operations. In August 2006, Cyprus Airways sold its shares to Air Miles, the trading name of Trans World Aviation. It is wholly owned by Air Miles and has 199 employees (at March 2007).


current fleet:

Leased Aircrafts:

• 4 Fokker 50
  
  The airline was operating 2 Airbus A320 and seems to be searching for a possible lease of another Airbus A320.
  

• Total 4

Average Age of fleet: 19,4 Years

pictures of Hellas Jet aircrafts:

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History of the company :

The airline was incorporated in May 2006 by a team of industry veterans, and currently operates charter flights and aircraft leasing on an ACMI basis.

The airline commenced scheduled operations on 30 May 2009 with the route Birmingham-Athens-Jeddah. The route has since been suspended until further notice, though the airline is looking for more suited aircraft for the route.

Hellenic Imperial Airways launched it's new website in April of 2010 as a part of their new promotional campaign for the company's new activities. The new website allows customers to book services online, and has live news feeds regarding flights and services.

In early May 2010 Hellenic Imperial announced it is to begin scheduled services to Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport beginning on the 8th of June 2010. These flights will fill the gap left by Olympic Airlines when they ceased services to the airport last September.Once again the route was suspended after the end of world cup, and since then the company only flew as charter company.

Current targets of the company according to directors is to start transatlantic flights to US, and to replace their classics Jumbo with newer cost efficient aircrafts, such as Boeing 777.

International awards :

• IATA-Best European Charter Airline 2010

current fleet:


Owned Aircrafts:

• 4 Boeing 747-200

• 4 Total

Average Age of Hellenic Imperial fleet: 23.4 Years

pictures of Hellenic Imperial Airways airplanes:

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History of the company :

Formed from the privatisation of the former national carrier Olympic Airlines, and owned by Marfin Investment Group, Olympic Air commenced limited operations on 29 September 2009, after Olympic Airlines ceased all operations, with the official full-scale opening of the company taking place two days later, on 1 October 2009. The airline has its main hub out of Athens International Airport.

The company's privatization cost was in total 177,2 million Euro, while the total investment for the new company reached 1,1 Bln Euro.The new company bought all the registered trademarks of previous state company but not the fleet.Thus the company had to make a new fleet by ordering new aircraft and leasing many.During Le Bourget 2008 Bombardier announced an order for 8+8 Q400 N by Olympic Air for 224 million Dollar.

The official opening of the new Olympic took place on 1st October of 2009 with the flight Athens - Thessaloniki with an Airbus A320 (SX-OAQ). From Thessaloniki the same day president of MIG group announced the reviving of Macedonian Airlines as a charter subsidiary of the Airline.

Unfortunately further plans for the development of the airline were changed by the economical crisis, and the company announced on February 2010 that they have agreed to merge with rival Aegean Airlines, under the brand name of Olympic. The newly merged airline will carry the Olympic name and logo, after a transition period in which both airline brands will be used in parallel.The Aegean brand will cease to exist after the transition period. Olympic Ground Handling and Olympic Engineering will become 100 percent subsidiaries of the new company.



current fleet:


Owned Aircrafts:

• 7 Airbus A319-100
• 9 Airbus A320-200
• 1 ATR 42-300 (The only x-Olympic Airlines)
• 10 +2 (plus 8 optinal) Bombardier Dash 8 Q400
• 5 Bombardier Dash 8-100

• Total 32+2 (+8 option)

Average Age of Olympic Air fleet: 4.8 Years(Including leased Aircraft from FlyBe)

Passengers statistics

image hosted on flickr


Source-Airliners.gr

pictures of Olympic Air airplanes:

image hosted on flickr

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History of the company :

The company was established by aviation professionals with long experience in Airline Operations in 2005.

Sky Express is a regional Airline based in Heraklion Crete, operating under a Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority issued Air Operator Certificate in accordance with the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Joint Aviation Authorities Regulations.
The main Sky Express destinations from Heraklion include Rhodes, Kos, Mytilini, Samos, Kalamata, Mykonos, Santorini and Ikaria and from autumn 2008, Patrai, Thessaloniki, Alexandroupoli and Tirana were added to the flight schedule enabling us to perform 5800 flights per year and carry 120.000 passengers.

Other services include: Charter Flights, Air-Taxi, Emergency Medical Service, Excursions, Sight-Seeing and Cargo Flights.

current fleet:


Owned Aircrafts:

• 1 BAe Jetstream 3102
• 1 BAe Jetstream 3201
• 2 BAe Jetstream 41

• 4 Total

Average Age of SkyExpress fleet: ? Years

Passengers statistics

pictures of airplanes:

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History of the company :

Founded in 2004 with one McDonnell Douglas MD-83 passenger aircraft Sky Wings Airlines now owns five passenger aircraft and operates all around the world.
The company holds Air Operator Certificate issued By Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA) to operate in purposes of Commercial Air Transport in worldwide region.
The company is a charter airline but is mainly leasing their aircrafts to other airlines for charter or scheduled flights in many countries around the world, with a method called "wet leasing", including aircraft leasing with crew.

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:

• 3 McDonnell Douglas MD-83
• 1 McDonnell Douglas MD-82
• 1 Boeing 757-200

• 5 Total

Average Age of Sky Wings fleet: 19.3 Years

pictures of Sky Wings airplanes:

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History of the company :

Viking Hellas Operational home base is in Greece with headquarters in Athens. The airline is subsidiary of the Viking Group, which is based in Sweden.

The airline holds scheduled services from Athens to Manchester as well as to Iraq (Erbil, Sulaimaniyah and Baghdad). Viking Hellas will also be operating charter flights on behalf of some of Europes leading tour operators from Greece to destinations throughout Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Middle East.


current fleet:


Owned Aircrafts:

• 2 A320-231 (1 operated for XL Airways France)
• 1 Bombardier Challenger 600 (VIP)
• 1 McDonnell Douglas MD-83

Leased Aircrafts:

• 1 Boeing 737-86Q (operated by Sunwing Airlines)

• Total 5

Average Age of fleet: ? Years

pictures of Viking Hellas airplanes:

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Freighter Airlines


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History of the company :

Aeroland was introduced on February 2005 and its main purpose is cargo transports through Greece with low cost. The company is part of Karagianis group of companies, whom in 2006 attempted to merge the small airline with Veravia but negotiations failed.

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:

• 1 Bombardier Dash 8 Q100
• 4 Cessna 208 Caravan

• Total 5

Average Age of Aeroland fleet: 17.2 years


pictures of Aeroland airplanes:

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History of the company :
The company received its AOC on 2008 and started freighter flights in Greece and neighboring countries.The company operates one "Bae ATP".

Managed by a team of experienced Greek airline professionals, lead by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Petros Stefanou, Airgo Airlines is a new start-up carrier that aims to take advantage of the growing need for a dedicated and professional regional all cargo carrier to operate between Greece, the new accession countries of the European Union in the region such as Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania, and the Balkan states such as the republics of the former Yugoslavia, Albania and also into Turkey.

current fleet:

Leased Aircrafts:

• 1 BRITISH AEROSPACE ATP

• Total 1

Average Age of AirGo fleet: 22 years

pictures of AirGo airplanes:

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(Swiftair Hellas).


History of the company :

Swiftair Hellas is a cargo airline based in Athens, Greece. Its main base is Athens International Airport and it mainly serves the Greek domestic market.

It was established under the name Mediterranean Air Freight in June 2003. It is wholly owned by Swiftair.

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:

• 3 Swearingen Metro III
• 1 Embraer 120 F

• Total 4

pictures of Swiftair Hellas airplanes:

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History of the company :

Vernicos Aviation S.A., trading under the name of VERAVIA is a member of the Vernicos Yachts Shipping & Holdings S.A. It was first established in 1990 under the name of KAL Aviation S.A. and was active in the area of air transport. In June 2000 it was acquired by Vernicos Yachts Shipping & Holdings S.A.

Veravia's business objective is the air transportation of cargo in Greece, Cyprus, the Balkans and the rest of the countries in Europe and the Mediterranean basin.

The company's headquarters are at the Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos" at Spata, 27 km outside of Athens.

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:

• 4 Fairchild SA227 Metro III SA227-AC/BC

• Total 4

Average Age of Veravia fleet: ? Years

pictures of airplanes:

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Executive Airlines (Including Mixed services Airlines)

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History of the company :

Amjet Executive is a European Aircraft Operator specialized in business jets with its headquarter in Athens. Supervised by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:

• 1 MD-83 Executive Airliner
• 1 Gulfstream G200
• 1 Falcon 2000LX

• Total 3

Average Age of fleet: ? Years

pictures of airplanes:

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History of the company :

AVIATOR AIRWAYS was established in 1992 and specializes in the areas of VIP, Business/ Executive Transport, Tourist, Air Ambulance and Cargo Transport. It is affiliated with Pandair Handling SA which affords it superior ground handling services in all Greek airports.

AVIATOR AIRWAYS operates from the Athens International Airport and can fly anywhere around Greece or Europe, departing immediately.

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:

• 1 BEECHCRAFT 1900D Airliner
• 1 BEECHCRAFT Super King Air 200
• 1 Bae Jetstream 31

• Total 3

Average Age of fleet: ? Years

pictures of airplanes:

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History of the company :

Gainjet Aviation is a Private executive Charter Operator and Management Company with its headquarters based in Athens, Greece, and a sales office based in the United Kingdom.
The company holds a worldwide EU-OPS-1 (AOC).

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:

• 1 Boeing 757 Executive Airliner
• 1 Boeing 737-300 Executive Airliner
• 1 Gulfstream G550
• 1 Gulfstream G450
• 1 BAe146-200 RJ
• 4 Gulfstream G200
• 1 Embraer Phenom-100
• 1 Bell 412 (Helicopter)
• Future 1 Gulfstream G450
• Future 1 Gulfstream G650

• Total 11+2

Average Age of fleet: 17.8 Years

pictures of airplanes:

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History of the company :

K2 Smart Jets is an executive charter airline based in Athens.

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:

• 1 Embraer Legacy 600
• 1 Cessna Citation XLS

• Total 2

pictures of K2 Smart Jets Aircrafts:

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History of the company :

LIFE LINE AVIATION was founded on 1997 and its activities include charter flights and special services with both aircrafts and helicopters.

current fleet:

Owned Aircrafts:

• 1 PIPER PA 31 T CHEYENNE II
• 1 BEECHCRAFT BARON 58
• 1 CESSNA 500 I

• Total 3

pictures of LIFE LINE AVIATION airplanes:

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[gm2263]

Γειά σου ρε αππιστευτε πιλότε. Η αεροπορια έίναι μια αγάπη που έχω εξ' ίσου με την αρχιτεκτονική. Ε, ρε τρέλλα...

I am surprised that there are so many Hellenic companies operating in the civil Aviation sector. Now does this mean that once Olympic Airways faces no other option than liquidation, its assets and resources will be absorbed by these carrers?

Few visitors and Hellenes alike know hat Greece was amongst the first to operate air carrier companies, even as early as the 1930s. hellenes gad always great aviation skills, this is why, despite the management problems of Olympic Airways, their Safety Record remains impeccable and the Hellene pilots are amongst the best in the world.

And BTW, there seems to be another airline, namely the "Hellenic Imperial Airways". Some info gathered by Konstantinoupolis can be seen HERE. I am not sure though whether this is an entirely Greek-owned company.

[gm2263]

For the record, these are the past days of glory: One of the B474-200 connecting Athens with North America, before being put out of commission...





Δεος... Awe...

[pilotos]

And BTW, there seems to be another airline, namely the "Hellenic Imperial Airways". Some info gathered by Konstantinoupolis can be seen HERE. I am not sure though whether this is an entirely Greek-owned company.

Yep it seems that there is a company named like that, i couldnt find any resources for that 1 though, but as i saw in a greek aviation forum they have 5 of their arcrafts stationed at Athens international airport.
Anyway i did add that 1 also on my post.

As for the furure of the olympic airways "enas theos kserei"...god knows

The golden age of olympic was when onassis was the owner, it was one of the 1st air companies in the world to introduce jet aircraft in civil aviation, and was even interesting to use the "black" diamond of the civil aviation, the legendery concorde.

But when the state takes over anything in greece the result is the same, it destroys it.
So the future of the company does not exist anymore , the only solution is to privitise it as soon as possible.And here it comes the eu penalty that was applied to the company for illegal funds that the greek state provided.
So its really complicated at the moment.
Lets all hope that they will finally find a solution to save the historical airlines company.

[SKLAVENITIS]

GM233 wrote:

...hellenes gad always great aviation skills, this is why, despite the management problems of Olympic Airways, their Safety Record remains impeccable and the Hellene pilots are amongst the best in the world.


This is probably the first and last time I am in disagreement with something Gregory has posted

First of all this talk about an "impeccable" safety record is a red herring:

http://aviation-safety.net/database/...?id=19990914-2

http://aviation-safety.net/database/...?id=19761123-2

http://aviation-safety.net/database/...?id=19721021-0

http://aviation-safety.net/database/...?id=19720218-0

http://aviation-safety.net/database/...e.php?var=4968


Considering how few miles Olympic flies 96 deaths is not a laughing matter.

Also the comment about Greeks being better pilots just doesn't wash with those of us that reside abroad. Someone being better has nothing to do with whether they are Greek German Italian etc.....

In the seventies when I was young and foolish I would bite my tongue, and fly Olympic Smokeways for purely ethnocentric reasons. Now that I have my own family and young children I would never risk flying with Olympic. Not when there are far better alternatives like Air-Canada/Lufthansa.

Aegean on the other hand is world class.

*

[pilotos]

Considering how few miles Olympic flies 96 deaths is not a laughing matter.

Well i am forced to disagree with you now, the last accident of OA was in 1989, about the falcon , that was the greek goverments aircraft and OA was responsible only for the technical maintenance.

Aciddents according to wikipedia :

* October 29, 1959: An Olympic Airways Douglas Aircraft Company DC-3 crashed near Athens, Greece. All 18 persons on board (15 passengers and 3 crew members) perished
* December 8, 1969: An Olympic Airways Douglas DC-6 crashed near Keratea, Athens, Greece. All 90 persons on board (85 passengers and 5 crew members) perished
* February 18, 1972: An Olympic Aviation Learjet crashed off the coast of Monte Carlo. All 2 crew members were killed.
* October 21, 1972: An Olympic Airways NAMC YS-11 crashed off the coast of Voula, Athens, Greece. 37 persons on board (36 passengers and 1 crew member) drowned, while 16 passengers and 3 crew members were rescued.
* November 23, 1976: An Olympic Airways NAMC YS-11 crashed near Kozani, Greece. All 46 passengers and 4 crew members perished.
* August 3, 1989: An Olympic Aviation Shorts 330 crashed near Samos Airport, Greece. All 31 passengers and 3 crew members were killed.

As for the incident on 12 AUG 1997, i see that responsible was the airport and the wather conditions, that has nothing to do with the company's safety, but i understand that the general worldwide aviation safety is calculated with both incidents and accidents, even if the weather or the poor airport's facilities are responsilbe.

[Grk101]

It should be noted, that none of those fatality's involved Jet Aircrafts and all domestic.

[prisma]

I agree that Olympic Airways is one of the most safe. The above just proves exactly that! I have traveled with Olympic several times in the past and i was quite satisfied. From abroad i think Lutfhansa is one of the best.
It's a shame that the Greek state and some employees never consider this very important airliner as a serious business.
Btw i didn't know that Olympic was intresting to fly the concorde back in the 70's!!! Concorde was (still is) one my passions. BA & AirFrance should be proud for these aircrafts (last flight took place back in 2003 by a BA concorde)

[pilotos]

Btw i didn't know that Olympic was intresting to fly the concorde back in the 70's!!!

And if the "onassis tragedy" didnt ever happened, then i m sure that they would have use it.

[gm2263]

We need to take some things into perspective here.

OA is a case needed to be examined on a psychologist's couch.

On the one hand you have a company who has been abused by the state repeatedly since many times state agencies were not paying the tickets of state officials travelling with the national carrier.

Also, being a public sector organisation it was used by each successive political party in power to serve as a social policy vessel, namely by hiring voters into it.

Pilotos knows that unfortunately, OA will NOT restore its original healthy status unless it is shut down and resumes operations on a "zero" basis. Unfortunately, this will involve the firing of many of its staff, mainly from the offices and ground operations. Although it will be difficult for fired pilots and cabin crews to get a job elsewhere, I reckon that a "re-boot" of the company's operations won't affect them.

Unfortunately, if, say, a romantic dream Greek-American patriot, "business angel" or a Greece based one like Latsis or whoever else, is interested in buying OA , they will for sure ask for a "carte blanche" from the government, which is, AT LAST to have a full viability study conducted that will lead to a full restructuring and re-engineering of the company before it starts operations, probably with a different name and logo which it would be good to maintain the five circles and the word "Olympic" in it, since it was proven by marketing research that customer awareness is high on those two brand attributes.

Also, I wouldn't poke on the pilots, engineers and technical stuff of the company. I insist that they are amongst the finest in the industry, plus, I was happy to receive inside information in the past about even unnecessary expenses undertaken in order for aircraft safety to not be compromised. True though, there have also been reported cases of misappropriation of funds, materials mishandling (including a missing jet engine for Christ's sake???!!! ), etc. But no, I don't think safety procedures are compromised, and this, in contrast to the practice of other foreign airlines whose unscrupulous safety processes have made the news on the covers of general and specialised aviation press.

Unfortunately though, I believe it's time to call it a day with the present status of OA and reset the counter with an entirely new airline that will continue to lead the Hellenic wings into the 21st century.

[Grk101]

Originally Posted by pilotos

And if the "onassis tragedy" didnt ever happened, then i m sure that they would have use it.

Yes. That would have been great for Olympic. Check out this photo of the concord in Athens for the demonstration flight:

(I cant display the image here so click on the link)
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0024603/M/

[Istanbullu]

Originally Posted by pilotos

And if the "onassis tragedy" didnt ever happened, then i m sure that they would have use it.

if concorde would have been in the fleet then the end for OA would have been earlier...

I also think 747 was a useless plane for OA. Too big for Greek routes. I'm sure they've lost alot of money while trying to keep that plane in the fleet.

[pilotos]

if concorde would have been in the fleet then the end for OA would have been earlier...

I also think 747 was a useless plane for OA. Too big for Greek routes. I'm sure they've lost alot of money while trying to keep that plane in the fleet.

Did air-france or british airways died due to the use of concorde? not at all.
And trust me if "onassis tragedy" havent took place , then OA would have been more elegant and certainly one of the best airlines.

As for 747, the aircraft was flying to intercontinental flights and not regional.
And for the loss that OA had, has nothing to do with the 747, just with the idiotic management of the greek state.

[Istanbullu]

How can you compare OA with AF and BA? Those are two of the giant carriers of the skies. They had plenty of rich passengers that could chose concorde on the famous routes like paris-london-nyc. Even then concorde never was profitable for these airlines. They used concorde as a source of prestige.

[Grk101]

Originally Posted by Istanbullu

if concorde would have been in the fleet then the end for OA would have been earlier...

I also think 747 was a useless plane for OA. Too big for Greek routes. I'm sure they've lost alot of money while trying to keep that plane in the fleet.

Actually there are rumors by the employes at JFK in the US that Olympic wants to order 2 747's for its New York route in the summer time, while deploying the A340's it has to a new route, Chicago and also bangkok in 2008.

Even though Olympic is a dieing company, it is still fighting hard. In the spring they are launching China routes. (which is a fact)

[alexandros1984]

Whats the best airline service in Greece ?

I think it is Aegean

[pilotos]

How can you compare OA with AF and BA? Those are two of the giant carriers of the skies. They had plenty of rich passengers that could chose concorde on the famous routes like paris-london-nyc. Even then concorde never was profitable for these airlines. They used concorde as a source of prestige.

Part of article found in www.hoav.com:
" 1972 and 1973 were monumental years for OA, 1972 being the first year OA became a truly worldwide airlines spanning all five continents with the addition of the Athens to Sydney route. Another major time in OA's history was the purchase of Boeing's 747 aircraft in 1973, nicknamed the "Jumbo” for it's size,
brought a whole new approach to flying with more elegance and luxury than every before seen. First class passengers had spacious seats, wined and dined with crystal and silverware and had comforts never before found on an aircraft.
Traveling long distance was now something exciting and luxurious, and phrases such as "jet-sets" became common among the passengers of the time. OA came to own five such aircraft when other airlines could not afford to own any, all this for a country of nine million people at the time."

I beilieve this can answer to the " They had plenty of rich passengers that could chose concorde on the famous routes like paris-london-nyc", dont forget that others than greeks could also use OA aircrafts.
Olympic was the first airline to have scheduled flights to five continents.
Olympic was the only private national airline in the world(which gave his company a lot of advantages, such as loans with low tax rates and monopoly on Greek aviation).
I dont compare todays OA , but i would compare Onassis OA with ba or af,and i dont doubt that the reason for OA interest on concorde was prestige also.

Unfortunately we never saw how the company would have evolutioned, but i do dare to compare those giants with OA due to the fact that the company's last years(last onassis years) had some great profits after a long loss period, and had already become a worldwide airline company.

Whats the best airline service in Greece ?

Ye it seems so, aegean has also been awarded 2 times by the EUROPEAN
REGIONS AIRLINE ASSOCIATION.

[Grk101]

Not to mention that during their "golden times" they actually had gold silver-wear (is that what its called?) and fine china with gold edges and crystal glasses for their first class. I believe Olympic still would have been a big player in the market, if the Onassis tragedy never happened, and Greece didn't take over.

[gm2263]

Unfortunately, the measures that have to be taken to rectify the situation are hard...

[Istanbullu]

Originally Posted by pilotos

Part of article found in www.hoav.com:
" 1972 and 1973 were monumental years for OA, 1972 being the first year OA became a truly worldwide airlines spanning all five continents with the addition of the Athens to Sydney route. Another major time in OA's history was the purchase of Boeing's 747 aircraft in 1973, nicknamed the "Jumbo” for it's size,
brought a whole new approach to flying with more elegance and luxury than every before seen. First class passengers had spacious seats, wined and dined with crystal and silverware and had comforts never before found on an aircraft.
Traveling long distance was now something exciting and luxurious, and phrases such as "jet-sets" became common among the passengers of the time. OA came to own five such aircraft when other airlines could not afford to own any, all this for a country of nine million people at the time."

I beilieve this can answer to the " They had plenty of rich passengers that could chose concorde on the famous routes like paris-london-nyc", dont forget that others than greeks could also use OA aircrafts.
Olympic was the first airline to have scheduled flights to five continents.
Olympic was the only private national airline in the world(which gave his company a lot of advantages, such as loans with low tax rates and monopoly on Greek aviation).
I dont compare todays OA , but i would compare Onassis OA with ba or af,and i dont doubt that the reason for OA interest on concorde was prestige also.

Unfortunately we never saw how the company would have evolutioned, but i do dare to compare those giants with OA due to the fact that the company's last years(last onassis years) had some great profits after a long loss period, and had already become a worldwide airline company.



Ye it seems so, aegean has also been awarded 2 times by the EUROPEAN
REGIONS AIRLINE ASSOCIATION.

When concorde was first introduced to the market the oil prices were significantly low. Many airlines including OA considered this plane as a possible addition to their fleet but then we had oil crisis, the prices sky rocketed and suddenly concorde wasn't a profitable plane for the airlines anymore so only BA and AF had concorde in their fleet and mostly because it was France and Britain that produced this plane.