Olympic Aviation Goes International With New Jets

With the delivery last month of two new passenger jets, Olympic Airways’ subsidiary Olympic Aviation breaks out of the confines of the regional market and heads for the skies over Europe.

The two new Boeing 717-200s, which come from Bavaria International Aircraft Leasing and cost Olympic Aviation 77 million drachmas each month for the next five years, are based in Thessaloniki. As of March, the new aircraft begin to execute flights from their base to Amsterdam, Berlin, Stuttgart, Paris and Larnaca. Until March, the jets will fly regional routes.

Except for the network expansion to European commercial centers, management at Olympic’s subsidiary plans to run flights to the Balkans and the Black Sea area.

The airline already uses an ATR to link Thessaloniki with Istanbul, Tiran, Limnos, Mytilini and Chios.

Figures released by the airline show an average annual revenue of 20 billion drachmas and an average annual passenger load of 1.5 million.