Thessaloniki Upset Over Olympic Route Cuts

The necessary route cuts to and from Athens were covered by alliances that Olympic Air secured with other airlines but a similar move was not made for Thessaloniki, which adds to the city’s further aviation isolation, the Professional Chamber of Thessaloniki recently said.

The chamber said that in accordance to the transition program Olympic Air would no longer conduct direct international flights from Thessaloniki thereby restricting the service to citizens of the city and of Northern Greece. The chamber stressed that all German cities—Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Dusseldorf—have been “bumped off” Olympic’s flight schedule which makes traveling difficult for the Greeks of the diaspora living in Germany.

According to the chamber’s president, Mihalis Zorpidis, Thessaloniki and Northern Greece citizens are now obliged to travel via Athens, which translates to “a waste of time and money.”

“This just adds to the already existing problem of Thessaloniki’s transport links,” he said.

However, according to Greek press reports, it is considered certain that Olympic Air’s planned subsidiary Macedonian Airlines will restore the connection with Germany once it begins operations. Air links to Balkan destinations and the rest of Europe are also under consideration.