Olympic Airlines

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Olympic Airlines

IATA OA	ICAO OAL	Callsign Olympic
Founded		1957
Hubs		Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport
Focus cities		Makedonia International Airport
Frequent flyer program		Icarus Frequent Flyer Program
Member lounge		Olympic Airways "Melina Merkouri", "Aristotle Onassis" lounges
Fleet size		40
Destinations		77
Parent company		Olympic Airlines S.A.
Headquarters		Athens, Greece
Key people		Elias Karatzalis (Chairman), Leonardos-Odysseas Vlamis (CEO)
Website: olympicairlines.com

Olympic Airlines (Ολυμπιακές Αερογραμμές, Olympiakés Aerogrammés - OA) is the state-run flag carrier and the largest airline in Greece, employing about 1850 people. The company headquarters is located in Athens. Although the logo resembles that of the Olympic Games, the airline is technically not named after the biggest international sporting event but rather after the Twelve Olympians, the principal grouping of gods and goddesses in Greek mythology, residing in Mount Olympus.

1 History
2 O.A. Group of Companies (April 1957 - December 2003)
3 Incidents and accidents
4 Destinations
5 Fleet
6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] The Start of Olympic

Olympic Airlines was created in Greece in 1930. The airline was called Icarus but soon went bankrupt, due to financial problems and limited Greek interest in air transport. G.C.A.T./Ε.Ε.Ε.Σ. (Greek Company for Air Transport/Ελληνική Εταιρεία Εναέριων Συγκοινωνιών) took its place. At the same time, in 1935, a second airline was created, the privately owned T.A.E. (Technical and Aeronautical Exploitations/Τεχνικαί Αεροπορικαί Εκμεταλλεύσεις). Soon after the World War II, in 1947, three airlines were based in Greece: T.A.E., G.A.T./ΕΛΛ.Α.Σ. (Greek Air Transport/Ελληνικαί Αεροπορικαί Συγκοινωνίαι) and Hellenic Airlines/Α.Μ.Ε. (Αεροπορικαί Μεταφοραί Ελλάδος).

Boeing 737-400.

Maria Callas leaving an Olympic Airways aircraft in Athens

In 1951, the poor financial state of all three airlines led to a decision by the Greek state to merge them into one, Hellenic National Airlines T.A.E. The new airline faced serious financial problems so the government closed it down in 1955. There was no interest in buying the airline so the Hellenic State bought the company back. In July 1956 an agreement was made between the Hellenic State and Greek shipping-magnate Aristotle Onassis to sell the company. The company flew under the name T.A.E. until the end of the year and for the first few months of 1957, when, on 6 April 1957, Olympic Airways/Ολυμπιακή Αεροπορία was officially born.

[edit] Olympic in the 1960s

The new company developed rapidly. In 1960 the first jet aircraft of OA entered into service, the De Havilland Comet 4B. At the same time, Olympic and British airline BEA agreed to create the first codeshare flights. Later on, the companies expanded their cooperation. When Hellenic crews had to spend their night in London, British crews would fly the Greek Comets to BEA destinations, and the same with Greek crews and British Comets. On all BEA and OA Comets, there would be a "BEA-OLYMPIC" sign.

In 1965, Olympic placed its first orders for the Boeing 707-300 jet aircraft. The first was delivered in 1966, bearing the name "City of Corinth". The nonstop route Athens - New York City (JFK Airport) was the first to be launched. In 1968, the first routes to Africa were launched and OA received the Boeing 727-200 jet aircraft. In 1969, OA launched a route to Canada and phased out the Comet 4Bs.

An old Olympic Airways logo.

[edit] Olympic in the 1970s

In 1971, OA purchased the new NAMC YS-11 turboprop aircraft to replace the aging Douglas DC-3 and Douglas DC-6, used throughout the domestic network of the company. In 1971, Olympic Aviation/Ολυμπιακή Αεροπλοϊα was created, so that the Greek islands could be more efficiently served. In 1972 Greece was linked to Australia for the first time.

Olympic then purchased the Boeing 720-051B jet aircraft, a derivative of the Boeing 707, and the Boeing 747-200 OA was also interested in the supersonic aircraft BAC-Aerospatiale Concorde. On January 5, 1973, a Concorde landed at Athens International Airport for a demonstration.

On 22 January 1973, an incident occurred that dramatically changed the future of OA. The death of Aristotle Onassis' son, Alexander, in a plane crash came as a shock to Greek people and marked the beginning of the end for Olympic Airways. A few months later, Onassis sold all of the OA shares to the Greek state and died shortly after (in 1975). In 1976, under the state management, OA purchased the Boeing 737-200 jet aircraft and created Olympic Catering, which served both OA and foreign airlines. In 1977, in a cost-cutting effort, OA shut down the Australia route, followed by the Canadian one in 1978, when OA also placed its first orders for the Airbus A300.

Olympic Airlines Boeing 737.

[edit] Olympic in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s

In 1984, two more B747-200 aircraft were purchased from Singapore Airlines, and the Canada and Australia routes were reopened. A new Olympic Airways Cargo division was created, by converting the Boeing 707-300 "City of Lindos", but the plans were soon abandoned. In 1986, the worst strikes in the history of OA occurred, and financial losses mounted.

The company has faced serious financial trouble since the 80s, mostly because of management problems. Greek politicians and their families travelled free on the airline or for token amounts. Greek governments also made Olympic carry the press with a 97% discount. Olympic Tourist was created as a subsidiary of OA, which issues tickets not only for OA, but for other airlines as well.

In the mid-1980s a nonstop route to Tokyo was launched but soon shut down due to limited passenger interest and heavy losses. Olympic purchased Boeing 737-400 aircraft in 1993, as well as the advanced version of the A300, the A300-600R. Due to the rising losses and debts, the government decided to formulate a restructuring program in which all debts were erased. This program, as well as all the plans that followed, failed. A few years later, in an attempt to make OA profitable, its management was given to the subsidiary of British Airways, Speedwing. The result was even larger debts and rising losses. In 1999, Olympic purchased four Airbus A340-313X aircraft, to replace the aging B747-200.

Olympic Airlines Airbus A340-300.

Very soon the losses became excessive so in 2003 the government decided to restructure the Olympic Airways Group of Companies. The subsidiary, Macedonian Airlines S.A., was renamed Olympic Airlines S.A. and took over the flight operations of Olympic Airways, erasing at the same time all of the airline's debts. The remaining group companies, except for Olympic Aviation (Olympic Airways, Olympic Into-Plane Company, Olympic Fuel Company, Olympic Airways Handling and the Olympic Airways Technical Base), merged and formed a new company, called Olympic Airways - Services S.A.. In December 2004, the Hellenic Government decided to privatise Olympic Airlines, but the sale process ended in failure as none of the buyers was eager to repay the Greek State the almost 500 million euro in State aid declared illegal by the European Commission in December 2005.

Olympic Airlines ATR-72.

Olympic Airlines Airbus A300B4-600R.

[edit] The Future of Olympic

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According to Greek media, the government plans to relaunch the company in late 2006. The code name for the project is "Pantheon Airways". In June 2006, Greek media reported that "Sabre Aviation Consulting Services" was contracted by the Greek government to find investors and develop a business plan for an airline to replace Olympic Airlines, aiming to start operating in fall 2006. Under this plan the government will be a minority shareholder of the new carrier and it will be run as a private airline.

[edit] O.A. Group of Companies (April 1957 - December 2003)

By December 2003, the Olympic Airways Group of Companies owned Olympic Airways (Ολυμπιακή Αεροπορία), Olympic Aviation (Ολυμπιακή Αεροπλοϊα), Macedonian Airlines (Mακεδονικές Αερογραμμές), Galileo Hellas (Γαλιλλαίος Ελλάς), Olympic Fuel Company (Ολυμπιακή Εταιρεία Καυσίμων), and Olympic Into-Plane Company. Olympic Catering had been sold a few months earlier. A company formed in the 80s called Olympic Tourist (Ολυμπιακή Τουριστική) had already been transformed into Macedonian Airlines.

[edit] Incidents and accidents

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. Both 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.

[edit] Destinations

Further information: Olympic Airlines destinations

OA operates a network of 13 intercontinental destinations, 28 European destinations and 36 domestic destinations.

[edit] Fleet

The Olympic Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft as of March 2007:

**Olympic Airlines Fleet**
Aircraft	Total	Notes
Airbus A340-300	4	Used for flights to the USA, Canada, South Africa, London, and occasionally Paris.
Airbus A300-600R	1	Used for short/medium haul. Up to 4 hours. Persian Gulf, Middle East and Europe.
Boeing 737-400	13	Short/medium haul up to 4 hours. Domestic flights, Middle East, North Africa and Europe.
Boeing 737-300	3	Short haul. up to 3 hours. Domestic flights, Middle East, North Africa and Europe.
ATR 72-200	7	short haul. Used for flights lasting around 45 min. Domestic flights and smaller islands.
ATR 42-300	6	short haul.
Bombardier Dash 8 Q100	4

Retired aircraft
Douglas DC-3
Boeing 707-300
Boeing 717-200
Boeing 720-051
Boeing 727-30/-200
Boeing 737-200
Boeing 747-100
Boeing 747-200
Britten-Norman Islander
De Havilland Comet 4B
Douglas DC-4 Skymaster
Douglas DC-6
Lear Jet 25
NAMC YS-11
Dornier Do 228
Shorts Skyvan
Shorts 330