Canadian Air Force Airbus A310-300 registered 15001 arrived in Athens to pick up the Olympic Flame

Canadian Air Force Airbus A310-300, designation CC-150 Polaris, registered 15001 arrived in Athens today in order to pick up the Olympic Flame that was lit in ancient Olympia for the winter Olympic Games which are held in Vancouver. The plane landed at 15:15L on runway 03R coming from OSI (Osijek, Croatia). After landing a short ceremony was held on stand B17 and 3 Mirage 2000 planes did a low pass over the runway 03R.


Airbus A310 / 15001 / arriving in Athens to pick up the Olympic Flame for Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games (photo 27/10/2009)

Olympic Air took delivery of Airbus A320 registered SX-OAM in Athens

Olympic Air took delivery of another Airbus A320 today in Athens. It is registered SX-OAM (c/n 3990) and was delivered from TLS (Toulouse, France) to BOD (Bordeaux, France) where it was painted to full Olympic Air colors. It arrived tonight at 20:05L in ATH from BOD.
Thanks to Alex for the following photo.

Airbus A320 / SX-OAM / just arrived in Athens from BOD

Thai Airways changing aircraft on Athens route using Airbus A340-500

Since today Thai Airways is changing the aircraft type using on the Bangkok - Athens route. From now on an Airbus A340-500 will be used instead of the Boeing 777-200ER. The first A345 to arrive in Athens today was registered HS-TLD.
Thanks to Alex for the following photo.

Airbus A340 / HS-TLD / first Thai A345 in Athens

Emergencies and diversions last night in Athens

Last updated 25/10/2009 17:10

During last night 2 emergencies and numerous diversions occurred at Athens airport. During Blue1's departure from Athens to Helsinki (KF 894), the plane had a problem with the right engine and had to abort the take off and return to the apron. The plane involved was the MD-90 registered OH-BLD. The plane is still parked on stand A38 of Athens being inspected/repaired.
The second emergency happened a little later when Air Arabia flight G9 282 from Athens to Sharjah had to return to the airport after departure because there was a problem with the right engine of the Airbus A320. The plane involved was A6-ABB and is parked on stand A40 of Athens. A replacement A320, registered A6-ABJ, was send to pick up the passengers and is expected to depart at 13:30L from Athens.
Also 3 Thomson, 2 Monarch and 2 First Choice planes had to divert to Athens due to bad weather conditions at CFU (Corfu, Greece) which prevented them from landing there.

Update 25/10/2009
Thanks to "The Aviation Herald", it appears that the problem with the Air Arabia A320 was not on the right hand engine but on the left one (#1 engine). The problem was at the Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) of the left hand engine. Also it appears that the plane didn't actually take off but rather aborted take off while it was speeding up for departure. During a runway inspection after the incident an engine access panel was found on it.

KLM "Tour of Inspiration" truck in Athens today

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines are celebrating their 90th anniversary this year and throughout the year they organize promotional events in various places in Europe. Such an event is the "Tour of Inspiration", a around the Europe tour of the fully-furnished KLM truck. Today the truck arrived in Athens and was parked in Athens International Airport at the departures level, towards the end of the terminal. It was open to the public from 13:00L to 17:00L. It then departed for its next destination, Milan. Thanks to the friendly KLM stuff, some pictures of the exterior and interior of the truck can be seen below. KLM was founded on 7 October 1919 and has been flying ever since under the same name. This also makes KLM the oldest airline in the world still operating under its original name. You can check the route of the KLM truck on the official "Tour of Inspiration" website here: http://klmdereis.klm.nl/en/tour-of-inspiration.html


KLM - Boeing - European Tour of Inspiration banner on the departures level in Athens (photo 12/10/2009)


KLM truck exterior view from the side entrance (photo 12/10/2009)


KLM truck exterior view from the back (photo 12/10/2009)


KLM Truck interior with red comfortable chairs to watch the KLM history video (photo 12/10/2009)


KLM truck interior wall with photos, on board offered items and other KLM merchandise (photo 12/10/2009)


KLM truck interior with a sample set of 6 seats in 3 rows demonstrating the comfortable seat pitch and on-seat IFE (photo 12/10/2009)


KLM truck interior with the front part of the truck being converted to an "on board suite" with 2 fully reclining seats and the first class comfort of KLM planes (photo 12/9/2009)

Berkut Air Boeing 757 registered UP-B5701 arrived in Athens, bringing Kazakhstan officials

The Boeing 757-200 of Berkut State Air Company registered UP-B5701 arrived today in Athens. The plane carried the Chairman of the Senate of Kazakhstan, Mr Kassym-Jomart Tokayev who is taking part at the Fall Meetings that OSCE Parliamentary Assembly organizes. These meetings are held in Athens from October 9th until 12th. Over 200 OSCE Parliamentarians from 49 countries are expected to arrive these days in Athens. The 17th OSCE Ministerial Council is also scheduled to be hosted in Athens on 1st and 2nd of December 2009.
The plane arrived under the callsign BEC003, but the strange thing is that Berkut Air is banned from flights within the EU (see EU ban list).


Boeing 757 / UP-B5701 / about to land on rwy 03R in Athens (photo 8/10/2009)

Mishap in Athens airport: Planes parked on taxiway "B" were moved and pushed due to strong winds

Last updated: 3/10/2009 19:45

A mishap occurred earlier today in Athens airport taxiway "B", where the Olympic Airlines fleet is parked. Due to the strong winds blowing in the area, two of the planes that were parked on taxiway "B" where blown away from their positions. The planes affected were Boeing 737 registered SX-BKF and ATR 72 registered SX-BIF. The Boeing was turned at least 45 degrees counterclockwise and moved into the grass. The ATR was turned almost 180 degrees counterclockwise but only the front landing gear was moved into the grass. It is very lucky that the planes didn't collide with any others next to them, since they are parked very close to each other. Currently there are 26 planes parked on the south part of taxiway "B". The position of the two planes can be seen on the last picture of this post.
The METARs of the time show winds up to 24 knots:
METAR LGAV 030950Z 20024KT 9999 SCT017 SCT080 BKN170 25/18 Q1010 NOSIG=
METAR LGAV 030920Z 20023KT 9999 FEW017 BKN025 BKN160 25/19 Q1010 NOSIG=
METAR LGAV 030850Z 20021KT 9999 FEW018 SCT030 BKN160 25/18 Q1010=
METAR LGAV 030820Z 18019KT 9999 SCT018 SCT030 BKN080 25/18 Q1010 NOSIG=
METAR LGAV 030750Z 18017KT 9999 SCT018TCU SCT030 BKN080 24/18 Q1010 NOSIG=
METAR LGAV 030650Z 22010G22KT 190V260 8000 -TSRA FEW017CB BKN025 BKN080 22/18 Q1011 RETSRA TEMPO TSRA=

Update 3/10/2009
Also the Boeing 747SRF of Elite Airlines registered SX-DCB was turned a little and had to be towed back to its normal position on "B".

Thanks to Panagiotis for the following photos.

Boeing 737 / SX-BKF / turned and moved into the grass next to taxiway "B" (photo 3/10/2009)


ATR 72 / SX-BIF / turned into the grass next to taxiway "B" (photo 3/10/2009)


Taxiway "B" of Athens with 26 planes parked on it. SX-BKF is the first plane of the picture and SX-BIF is the second ATR on the picture (6th plane from the start).

Pegasus Airlines started Izmir - Athens flights today

Pegasus Airlines (H9/PGT) started today direct flights between ADB (Izmir, Turkey) and Athens. The route will be operated three times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The flight schedule is as follows:
H9 805 (ADB-ATH)
11:35 - 12:10 1*3*5**
H9 806 (ATH-ADB)
13:10 - 14:00 1*3*5**
The route is operated by IZair and for the inaugural flight, an Airbus A319 registered TC-IZR arrived in Athens.


Airbus A319 / TC-IZR / operating the inaugural flight to Athens, about to land on rwy 03L (photo 2/10/2009)