British Airways Airbus A319 registered G-EUPC in Athens to pick up the Olympic Flame

British Airways Airbus A319 registered G-EUPC arrived today in Athens to pick up the Olympic Flame for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The plane is named "The Firefly" and is painted in a special livery for the occasion. This is the first flight of that plane on that livery, since it rolled out of the paintshop in LHR (London, UK) just today and departed as BAW2012 to Athens. It landed at 15:05L on runway 21R and it is parked in the satellite terminal until its departure back to UK on May 18th.

Airbus A319 / G-EUPC / about to land on runway 21R

Airbus A319 / G-EUPC / about to land on runway 21R

Armenia Government Airbus A319CJ registered EK-RA01 in Athens

The president of the Republic of Armenia is on an official visit to Greece and arrived yesterday morning on the Armenia Government Airbus A319CJ registered EK-RA01. The plane is parked in Athens airport since then, waiting for the departure flight back to Armenia on Thursday noon.

Airbus A319CJ / EK-RA01 / parked in Athens airport

State of Kuwait Airbus A319CJ registered 9K-GEA in Athens

The Airbus A319CJ owned by the State of Kuwait, registered 9K-GEA (c/n 3957), arrived today in Athens from BTS (Bratislava, Slovakia) as KU035. It landed at 15:10L and was schedule to depart at 15:50L to KWI (Kuwait City, Kuwait).

Airbus A319CJ / 9K-GEA / about to land on rwy 21R

U2 "360" tour support crew arrived in Athens on Niki A319 registered OE-LED

The support crew and the rest of the people involved in the U2 "360" tour arrived in Athens today at 16:50L from Vienna onboard a charter flight operated by Niki Airlines. The plane, an Airbus A319 registered OE-LED, arrived as HG 1150 from VIE (Vienna, Austria) and landed on runway 21R before parking on stand A43 on the southern apron.


Airbus A319 / OE-LED / about to land on rwy 21R carrying the support crew and other people from the U2 "360" tour


Airbus A319 / OE-LED / taxiing to stand A43 at Athens airport

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)

Olympic Air took delivery of Airbus A319 registered SX-OAV

Olympic Air took delivery of their last Airbus for their start up fleet of September 29th 2009. It is an Airbus A319 registered SX-OAV (c/n 3142) and is an ex Bangkok Airways plane which was ferried to SEN (Southend, UK) for painting to Olympic Air colors. It arrived today at 19:10L and went straight to park on taxiway "B", together with the rest of the Olympic Air Airbus planes.


Airbus A319 / SX-OAV / about to land on rwy 03L at ATH (photo 27/9/2009)

Olympic Air startup flight schedule effective 29 September

Olympic Air, the new carrier established in Greece by Marfin Investment Group deployed today its startup schedule. Flights cover the period between 29Sep and 24Oct. The flight schedule for the winter season (effective 25Oct) will be announced through the company's new website. You can view the whole timetable here.

Routes that are abandoned are :
Domestic Network :
- Athens-Syros
- Athens-Kozani/Kastoria
- Thessaloniki-Rhodes (direct flight)
- Thessaloniki-Chania
- Thessaloniki-Heraklion
International Network :
- Thessaloniki-Istanbul
- From Athens to :
New York
Montreal/Toronto
Johannesburg
Kuwait/Dubai
Madrid
Manchester
Frankfurt
Munich
Dusseldorf
Stuttgart
Berlin
Moscow

The announced timetable requires at least 7 A319, 3 A320, 7 DH4 (one based at Thessaloniki Airport), 3 DH8 (1 based at Rhodes Airport) and 1 ATR42. It should be highlighted that the DH8s and the sole ATR will exclusively be used for PSO(Public Service Obligation) services.

There are also some flight numbering changes according to the following scheme :
- All PSO flights are renumbered (if different) between 000-099
- BEG renumbered from 385-388 to 397-398
- TIA renumbered from 117-118 to 317-318
- BEY renumbered from 313-314 to 463-464
- LCA renumbered from 329-338 to 431-438
- ALY renumbered from 327-328 to 487-488
- CAI renumbered from 325-326 to 485-486
- TLV renumbered from 301-302 to 451-452

Olympic Air Airbus A319 registered SX-OAO got painted at Shannon

Olympic Air Airbus A319 registered SX-OAO (ex D-APAD, c/n 1880) got painted on Wednesday at SNN (Shannon, Ireland) in the full Olympic Air colors and had the interior rearranged to standard layout. As has happened with SX-OAN that got painted a few days ago (see post), the circles on the tail are noticeable bigger than the previously painted planes. It is believed that Olympic Air has decided to have the circles painted bigger from now on, possibly to even repaint the tails of all already painted aircraft.
Two close-ups of the tail of both SX-OAO and SX-OAN are shown below. Thanks to Gerry McCready (aerspace.blogspot.com) for the photos.


Airbus A319 / SX-OAO / just out of the paintshop in full OA colors (photo 10/9/2009)


Airbus A319 / SX-OAN / noticeable bigger circles on the tail of this A319 (photo 10/9/2009)

Olympic Air Airbus A319 registered SX-OAJ heading from Athens to Shannon for cabin rearrangement

Olympic Air Airbus A319 registered SX-OAJ (c/n 3905) departed today at 17:30L on course to SNN (Shannon, Ireland) as NOA007P. It is going to have the interior layout reconfigured, as this was originally a plane for Mexicana and the cabin layout (including configuration, seats color & material etc) was already prepared for them before deciding not to take this plane up. It might also have the Olympic Air circles repainted to bigger ones, as SX-OAN had (see post).


Airbus A319 / SX-OAJ / departing from ATH on course to SNN (photo 5/9/2009)

Thanks to Vasilis for the following video.

Airbus A319 / SX-OAJ / departing from ATH on course to SNN (video 5/9/2009)

Olympic Air Airbus A319 registered SX-OAN got painted at Shannon

Another Olympic Air Airbus A319 got painted in full company colors yesterday at SNN (Shannon, Ireland) by Shannon Aerospace. It is registered SX-OAN (c/n 1727) which is ex D-APAC operated by PrivatAir and was a Long Range version of the A319. During the maintenance operations in SNN they removed the long range tanks and changed the interior to standard cabin layout. The painting job on the second A319, registered SX-OAO (c/n 1880), which is in SNN as well is almost finished and is expected to roll out in a couple of days. A slightly bigger tail logo is visible on this plane, with the circles being larger than all the other planes' already painted. Will have to wait to see if this will happen with SX-OAO as well when it rolls out.

Thanks to Gerry McCready (aerspace.blogspot.com) for the photo.

Airbus A319 / SX-OAN / parked outside the Shannon Aerospace hangar after being painted (photo 5/9/2009)

Olympic Airbus A319 registered SX-OAL painted in Southend

Another Olympic Air Airbus A319 got painted in SEN (Southend, UK) 24/7 but remained with the M-ABCJ registration until a couple of days ago. It is registered SX-OAL (c/n 3252) and is an ex Mandala Airlines plane registered PK-RMD. It was ferried from DXB (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) to SEN via SAW (Istanbul, Turkey) and IOM (Isle of Man) registered as M-ABCJ. It is leased by CIT Aerospace.

Thanks to Mike Cain for the photo.

Airbus A319 / SX-OAL / painted in full Olympic Air colors in SEN (photo 7/8/2009)

Thanks to Keith Burton for the photo.

Airbus A319 / SX-OAL / painted in full Olympic Air colors in SEN (photo 7/8/2009)

Olympic Air takes delivery of the first Airbus A319 registered SX-OAJ in Athens today

Olympic Air took delivery of their first Airbus A319 registered SX-OAJ in ATH today. It arrived in full colors at 13:45L, having been painted in SNN (Shannon, Ireland) just yesterday. This is an ex Mexicana plane (c/n 3905) not taken up, that was ferried from XFW (Hamburg, Germany) to SNN in order to be painted (see post). The strange with this flight is that on the FMC of the plane the callsign of the flight was AEE001, which is an Aegean Airlines callsign. On the radio communications though it used callsign "Olympic SX-OAJ". Upon arrival it went directly into the Olympic Air Hangar. The plane is leased from RBS Aviation Capital.


Airbus A319 / SX-OAJ / about to land on rwy 03R in ATH (photo 5/8/2009)

Another Airbus A319 with full Olympic Air colors (SX-OAG)

Last updated 17/7/2009 23:10

Another Airbus A319 of Olympic Air was painted in the full company colors in NWI (Norwich, UK) today. It is registered SX-OAG and it was an ex Hamburg International plane registered D-AVWT (c/n 3950).

Update 17/7/2009 23:10
Added a photo of both SX-OAF and SX-OAG in NWI

Thanks to Keith for the photos.

Airbus A319 / SX-OAG / parked in NWI, painted in full OA colors


Airbus A319s / SX-OAF & SX-OAG / parked in NWI

Second Airbus A319 for Olympic Air registered SX-OAF in full colors

The second Airbus A319 registered SX-OAF was painted in NWI (Norwich, UK) today. It is an ex Hamburg International plane registered D-AHIP (c/n 3895) and it was ferried from HAM (Hamburg, Germany) to NWI on 8/7/2009.

Thanks to Steve Mills for the photo.

Airbus A319 / SX-OAF / just pained in NWI (photo 15/7/2009)

First Airbus A319 registered SX-OAK in full Olympic Air colors

Last updated 14/7/2009 21:15

The first Airbus A319 for Olympic Air, registered SX-OAK, got painted in full company colors in SEN (Southend, UK) today. It was an ex Mandala Airlines plane registered PK-RMF (c/n 3317), built in November 2007. It was ferried from DXB (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) to SEN via MAN (Manchester, UK) and IOM (Isle of Man), registered as M-ABCK. It is leased by CIT Aerospace.
Thanks to Paddy Ballard - Southend Airport

Airbus A319 / SX-OAK / painted in full Olympic Air colors in SEN (Southend, UK) (photo 14/7/2009)

Update 14/7/2009 21:15
Added one more photo of the freshly painted SX-OAK in SEN and one of M-ABCK during it's departure from MAN on it's way to SEN, in order to be painted.
Thanks to Mike Cain for the photo.

Airbus A319 / SX-OAK / painted in full Olympic Air colors in SEN (Southend, UK), with the front right passenger and the aft cargo doors open (photo 14/7/2009)

Thanks to Dave Henderson for the photo.

Airbus A319 / M-ABCK / departing from MAN on its way to SEN in order to be painted (photo 2/7/2009)

Qatar Airways increases Doha-Athens flights

Qatar Airways plans increased frequency for the Doha-Athens route, effective 25Oct2009 (when Winter Schedule is on).
Initially, the company plans 9 frequencies per week which will gradually increase to 11.

QR472 DOH0755 - 1150ATH 13457
QR472 DOH0755 - 1150ATH 26 (eff 01Dec)
QR476 DOH1335 - 1730ATH 2567

QR473 ATH1255 - 1750DOH 13457
QR473 ATH1255 - 1750DOH 26 (eff 01Dec)
QR477 ATH1830 - 2325DOH 2567

Service operates with A319/A320/A321