Macedonian Airlines ( el, Mακεδονικές Αερογραμμές, transliterated ''Makedonikes Aerogrammes'') was a subsidiary of

Olympic Airways Olympic Airlines ( el, Ολυμπιακές Αερογραμμές, ''Olympiakés Aerogrammés'' – OA), formerly named Olympic Airways for at least four decades, was the flag carrier airline of Greece. The airline's head office was located ...

, the former national flag carrier of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. The company ceased operations in 2003, when it took over the operations of

and was renamed Olympic Airlines. After the privatization of Olympic Airways and the formation of Olympic Air, it was announced by the new CEO

Andreas Vgenopoulos Andreas Vgenopoulos (10 December 1953 − 5 November 2016) was the chairman of Marfin Investment Group and was a major shareholder of Panathinaikos FC. Vgenopoulos resigned from Panathinaikos in June 2010 citing differences with Giannis Vardin ...

that a subsidiary of the company will be established in Northern Greece bearing the name Macedonian Airlines. However, there have been no more official announcements about this to date.

History

1992–2003

Macedonian Airlines was created in 1992 as the charter subsidiary of the Greek national airline, Olympic Airways. The Olympic Airways management board decided to rename the charter subsidiary of the Group, Olympic AirTours in 1992, and the Macedonian Airlines brand name was created. The company had nothing to do with

MAT Macedonian Airlines MAT Macedonian Airlines ( mk, Македонски Авиотранспорт (МАТ), tr: ''Makedonski Aviotransport (MAT)'') was the national flag carrier airline of the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia). It operated scheduled servi ...

, which was founded two years later, in 1994, in neighbouring

Republic of North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

. Macedonian followed the trails of its predecessor, Olympic AirTours, mainly for vacation planning until 1998. This year the airline acquired two B727-200 from Olympic Airways. Starting with these aircraft, Macedonian offered charter flights of the Greek islands and the mainland abroad European. The society had reached agreements with different large tour operators. One year later, in 1999, the airline used new aircraft, by leasing two

B737-400 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...

to replace the already aged Boeing 727s. Since the company was an

subsidiary, all maintenance and handling were operated by the parent company,

. Until 2003, Macedonian's fleet was also used on OA scheduled services, especially after the older Boeing 737-200s were phased out. In July 2003, the company leased two

McDonnell Douglas MD-82 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gener ...

that also used on charter flights. On 12 December 2003, due to the mounting problems of the Olympic Airways Group, a restructuring plan was formed. Macedonian Airlines was separated from the Group, renamed Olympic Airlines and took over all the data and flight operations of Olympic Airways (including the

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

and

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...

codes).

2010: Relaunch

On 1 October 2009, speaking after Olympic Air΄s inaugural flight in Thessaloniki, MIG΄s CEO

said that Olympic Air will relaunch in the near future Macedonian Airlines. Mr. Vgenopoulos mentioned that Olympic Air holds the exclusive rights to the Macedonian Airlines brand name. Mr. Vgenopoulos said that Macedonian Airlines would be up-and-running in the coming two or three months while its first routes would include Germany and Amsterdam. There have been no more official announcements about this up until now.

Former Fleet

References

External links

Macedonian Airlines official site

Macedonian Airlines Virtual

Olympic Air

History of the Macedonian Airlines

MIG To Relaunch Macedonian Airlines
{{Olympic Air Defunct airlines of Greece Airlines established in 1992 Airlines disestablished in 2003 Olympic Airlines Greek companies established in 1992