Aegean Airlines Airbus A320 registered SX-OAP arrived in Athens

The second Airbus A320 that Aegean Airlines will be taking from Olympic Air, still registered as SX-OAP, arrived in Athens today from NWI (Norwich, UK) where it was painted. As with the previous A320, SX-OAS, this one also has the "Visit Greece" website title on the left aft part of the fuselage. The flight arrived as OAL006P and landed on runway 03R at 16:50L. As with SX-OAS that is expected to be re-registered as SX-DGC, this one is expected to be re-registered as SX-DGD.


Airbus A320 / SX-OAP / about to land on runway 03R

Second ex Olympic Air Airbus A320 to be painted in Aegean Airlines colors (SX-OAP)

The second ex Olympic Air Airbus A320 registered SX-OAP was painted today in Aegean Airlines colors in Norwich. As the previous one, SX-OAS, this has also the "Visit Greece" website titles on the left aft part of the fuselage.

Thanks to Keith for the following photo.

Airbus A320 / SX-OAP / just painted in Aegean Airlines colors

Thanks to Paul for the following photo.

Airbus A320 / SX-OAP / last photo of SX-OAP on Olympic Air colors, moments before entering the paintshop (photo taken 17/3/2011)

Aegean Airlines Airbus A320 registered SX-OAS arrived in Athens

Ex Olympic Air Airbus A320 registered SX-OAS that is now painted on Aegean Airlines colors and additional Visit Greece website titles, arrived today in Athens from Norwich. The flight with callsign OAL006P landed at 17:45L on runway 21R. After landing the plane was parked in the Olympic Air hangar. Unfortunately the Visit Greece website titles are not on both sides (only on left side), so they are not visible on this picture.

Airbus A320 / SX-OAS / about to land on rwy 21R

ex Olympic Air A320 registered SX-OAS received Aegean Airlines colors today

Ex Olympic Air Airbus A320 registered SX-OAS received yesterday (15/3/2011) the Aegean Airlines colors, as expected. In addition to the basic Aegean Airlines livery, the Greek Tourism Organisation website (www.visitgreece.gr) is added on the aft part of the fuselage. This was probably due to a recent agreement that Aegean Airlines and the Greek Tourism Organisation signed in order to promote Greece to the destinations that are served by the airline.

Thanks to Keith for the following photo.

Airbus A320 / SX-OAS / just received its new colors in Norwich

Olympic Air Airbus A320 registered SX-OAS departed to Norwich to be painted

Olympic Air Airbus A320 registered SX-OAS (c/n 4094), departed today around 7am as OA003P for NWI (Norwich, UK) where it will be painted to its new colors and delivered to a new customer, who will be, according to some sources, their "competitor" in Greece -Aegean Airlines-. According to a latest Olympic Air press statement, 6 Airbus planes will leave their fleet very soon. Sources say that 3 or maybe 4 of them, will go to Aegean Airlines.

Thanks to Keith for the following photo.

Airbus A320 / SX-OAS / a few minutes before entering the Air Livery hangar in Norwich

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

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).

Olympic Airlines Airbus A340s parked at Athens

As Olympic Air is taking over Olympic Airlines routes from 00:01L tomorrow, all Olympic Airlines planes that finish their last route today will be parked on taxiway "B" and "Z" (see post). The first two planes that were towed on taxiway "Z", where the two Airbus A340s that didn't have a flight today. SX-DFC and SX-DFD are parked on "Z" facing west and have enough space behind them in order for the other two (SX-DFA & SX-DFB) to park tomorrow upon arrival in Athens. A brief history of the last flights of these Airbus A340s:
SX-DFA: Is currently en route to JFK (New York, USA) on the last OA411/412 flight and is expected to arrive in Athens tomorrow morning at 09:10L
SX-DFB: Is currently en route to YYZ (Toronto, Canada) on the last OA423/424 flight and is expected to arrive in Athens tomorrow morning at 10:50L
SX-DFC: Performed its last flight on 19/9/2009 as OA412 from JFK and is parked in Athens since then
SX-DFD: Performed its last flight today as OA412 from JFK and is parked in Athens since then


Airbus A340 / SX-DFD & SX-DFC / parked on taxiway "Z" of Athens (photo 28/9/2009)

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 Airbus A319 & A320 delivery in Athens

The last two days Olympic Air is taking delivery in Athens of their Airbus A319s and A320s that will form the start up fleet of the company (see post).
Until now, they following planes have already arrived:
SX-OAF (A319)
SX-OAG (A319)
SX-OAH (A320)
SX-OAJ (A319)
SX-OAN (A319)
SX-OAO (A319)
SX-OAQ (A320)
SX-OAR (A320)

The following are scheduled to arrive tonight:
SX-OAI (A320)
SX-OAK (A319)
SX-OAL (A319)

For a complete up to date list of the Olympic Air start up fleet, see this post


Airbus A319 & A320 / SX-OAO, SX-OAG, SX-OAH, SX-OAF, SX-OAR / parked on taxiway "B" in Athens (photo 25/9/2009)


Airbus A319 / SX-OAN / arriving from Shannon (photo 25/9/2009)

Olympic Air website launched

The website of Olympic Air has been launched today, even though the access is not possible for many people due to some restrictions on the hosting server. The speed is also a bit slow and the booking engine is also under construction. Some typographic errors and information are not 100% correct but hopefully these problems will be fixed withing the next days. The website was created by Forthnet S.A.
The website address is: http://www.olympicair.com

Here are some screen shots of the new Olympic Air website:

The index page of the website


The e-services page of the website.


The fleet info of Olympic Air

Olympic Air Airbus A320s registered SX-OAQ and SX-OAR arrived in Athens

Olympic Air Airbus A320s registered SX-OAQ (ex F-WWBQ, c/n 3748) and SX-OAR (ex D-AVVE, c/n 3812) were ferried today from DNR (Dinard, France) to Athens. They arrived with 10 minutes separation and upon landing on runway 03R, they were towed and parked on taxiway "B". These are the first Airbus A320s that are joining the Olympic Air fleet in Athens.


Airbus A320 / SX-OAQ / arriving from DNR, about to land on rwy 03R (photo 18/9/2009)


Airbus A320 / SX-OAR / minutes after SX-OAQ, about to land on rwy 03R (photo 18/9/2009)

Olympic Air TV commercials and marketing

The first two tv commercials of Olympic Air had been released on the internet. The marketing campaign of Olympic Air had been assigned to Cream S.A. a couple of weeks ago. The website of Olympic Air, being created by Forthnet S.A., is also expected to be launched in a couple of days. Olympic Air is also the primary sponsor of the "I LOVE GR" production on SKAI TV. More marketing solutions and advertising campaigns are expected to follow in the meantime until October 1st when Olympic Air takes over. The official opening ceremony for the new company is expected to take place on October 15th on the technical base hangar at Athens Airport.

Olympic Air Airbus A320 registered SX-OAI at SXF

Olympic Air Airbus A320 registered VT-DNY that was parked in SXF since August 14th (see post) was reregistered to SX-OAI on September 11th. Along with SX-OAH (ex VT-DNV) they are undergoing a transition check by the local Lufthansa Technik facility in SXF, prior to delivery to Olympic Air in Athens. It is almost certain that the tail logo of those two planes will not be repainted with bigger circles, at least for now.

Thanks to Michael for the following photo.

Airbus A320 / SX-OAI / parked in SXF having its Greek registration applied last night (photo 12/9/2009)

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

Dash-8 Q400 registered SX-BIU (ex G-JECW) painted to full Olympic Air colors

Another Bombardier Dash-8 Q400 registered SX-BIU (ex G-JECW, c/n 4152) was painted to full Olympic Air colors. This is an ex Flybe plane that was ferried from BHX (Birmingham, UK) to NWI (Norwich, UK) for painting at 5/9/2009. A week later and having completed the painting job, on 12/9/2009, it was ferried from NWI to EXT for delivery preparations. Upon arrival at EXT it was reregistered to SX-BIU and did some engine run up tests.

Thanks to Keith Newsome for the following photo.

Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 / G-JECW / departing from NWI to EXT (photo 12/9/2009)


Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 / SX-BIU / after arrival at EXT, doing engine run up tests (photo 12/9/2009)

Olympic Air Airbus A320s registered SX-OAQ and SX-OAR painted at Dinard

Two more Airbus A320s of Olympic Air got painted at DNR (Dinard, France). They are SX-OAQ (ex F-WWBQ, c/n 3748) and SX-OAR (ex D-AVVE, c/n 3812) which were ferried there from TLS (Toulouse, France) and XFW (Hamburg, Germany) respectively on August 26th. They are expected to depart in a few days from DNR.

Thanks to Nicolas.H for the following photo.

Airbus A320 / SX-OAR / just out of the paint hangar at DNR (photo 13/9/2009)

Thanks to Sylvain Gourheu for the following photos.

Airbus A320 / SX-OAR / parked outside the paint hangar in DNR (photo 27/8/2009)


Airbus A320 / SX-OAQ / parked outside the paint hangar in DNR (photo 27/8/2009)

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)