A new Greek airline named Athens Spirit Airlines plans to start operations in April 2019. The airline was founded in June 2017. In January 2019, it submitted a request for an air operator certificate from the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority, Deal News reports.
The new company has big plans. Athens Spirit Airlines wants to start with a fleet of four Airbus A319s and two Airbus A340s to operate flights both within Greece and abroad.
Athens Spirit Airlines was funded by investments from several rich members of the Greek Diaspora and aims to break the supremacy of Aegean Airlines.
The leader of Athens Spirit Airlines is a well-known manager in the Greek aviation history: Vassilis Dorizas, a retired pilot and priest. He is a former manager of the defuncted state carrier Olympic Airways, where he worked for more than 16 years before heading into the management of a state pension fund. In October 2012, Dorizas was one of the founders of Sky Greece Airlines, which started operations in May 2015 with a Boeing 767-300ER but already ceased operations half a year later.
In previous years, many efforts have been made to start smaller Greek airlines. Most of them, over 20, did not manage too long, but there are nine that have survived and are even, in some cases, on a path of sustained growth. Among them are Ellinair and Sky Express.
Ellinair has a fleet of ten aircraft began with a privileged field for itineraries to and from Russia, but it is constantly expanding to new domestic and international destinations.
Sky Express doubled its fleet and passenger number in 2018. Today, it flies 12 aircraft to 32 destinations throughout Greece, with the Grillos Group also dominating handling via Swissport Hellas.
Other successful startups include Astra Airlines, with a fleet of four aircraft covering 18 destinations; Air Mediterranean; Olympus Airways, which has six aircraft; Bluebird Airways; Swiftair Hellas; GainJet Aviation; and Orange2Fly.
Featured image by Airbus Author: Martin Tietz