Sky Express, legal name Cretan Aeronautical Operations ( el, Κρητικές Αεροπορικές Εκμεταλλεύσεις '), is a Greek airline headquartered in

Athens International Airport Athens International Airport ''Eleftherios Venizelos'' ( el, Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Αθηνών «Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος», ''Diethnís Aeroliménas Athinón "Elefthérios Venizélos"''), commonly initialised as ...

. It was established in 2005 and operates a number of flights, serving 35 domestic and eight international destinations.

History

The airline was established in early 2005 by Cpt. Miltiadis Tsagkarakis, former

Olympic Airlines 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 ...

director general A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a governmen ...

and pilot, and George Mavrantonakis, former Olympic Airlines

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

and accountable manager as well as advisor to the company president. Operations commenced in July 2005, including scheduled, charter,

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

emergency medical services Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. ...

, excursion and

sightseeing Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

flights. Sky Express Aircargo was later established as a joint venture with the Finaval Group and dedicated to cargo transport between Europe and the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The te ...

. In October 2020, the airline placed a firm order for four

Airbus A320neo The Airbus A320neo family is a development of the A320 family of narrow-body airliners produced by Airbus. The A320neo family (''neo'' for "new engine option") is based on the previous A319, A320 and A321 ( enhanced variant), which was then ren ...

aircraft (the fleet now includes six of them). In addition, the company introduced a new design for their new Airbus aircraft.

Logo controversy

The airline's initial logo was inspired by the flag of the Cretan State, a semi-independent state under the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. The flag of the Cretan State was composed of a white cross extending to the edges of the flag, with the upper-hoist canton in red, featuring a white star symbolizing Ottoman sovereignty on the island, and the other squares in blue, symbolizing the Greeks of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...

. The flag has also been adopted as a symbol of the Cretan independence pseudo-movement. The logo was not well-received, and following complaints by the public in

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 wit ...

, especially Cretans, the logo was changed. The company said it did not consider the flag offensive, since it represented a milestone in the unification of Crete with the

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label=Katharevousa, Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constant ...

, but changed the logo nonetheless to avoid any further confusion.

Corporate affairs

In 2018, Sky Express carried 1 million passengers for the first time.

Destinations

As of 2021, Sky Express operates scheduled flights to 35 destinations in Greece and to another eight abroad.

Interline agreements

Sky Express interlines with the following airlines: *

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airl ...

* Air Serbia * Air Transat *

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passenge ...

Condor Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere. They are: * The Andean condor (''V ...

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along wi ...

EasyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...

El Al El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (, he, אל על נתיבי אויר לישראל בע״מ), trading as El Al (Hebrew: , "Upwards", "To the Skies" or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ar, إل-عال), is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural ...

* Emirates * KLM *

Middle East Airlines Middle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L. ( ar, طيران الشرق الأوسط ـ الخطوط الجوية اللبنانية ''Ṭayyarān al-Sharq al-Awsaṭ – al-Khuṭūṭ al-jawiyyah al-lubnāniyyah''), more commonly known as Middle ...

* Qatar Airways *

Transavia Transavia Airlines C.V., trading as Transavia and formerly branded as ''transavia.com'', is a Dutch low-cost airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of KLM and therefore part of the Air France–KLM group. Its main base is Amsterdam Airport Schip ...

Fleet

As of July 2021, Sky Express's fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Historical fleet

In the past, Sky Express also operated the following types: * ATR 42-300 * BAe Jetstream 41 * Boeing 747-200 * McDonnell Douglas MD-83

Incidents and accidents

* On 12 February 2009, a

BAe Jetstream 31 The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin-turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the British A ...

registered SX-SKY experienced a right main gear collapse after landing inbound from

Rhodes International Airport Rhodes International Airport "Diagoras" (Greek: Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Ρόδου "Διαγόρας"), or Diagoras International Airport , is located on the West side of the island of Rhodes in Greece. The facility is located ju ...

. None of the 15 passengers or three crew members were injured, but the aircraft suffered considerable damage to its right landing gear, wing and propeller. The aircraft was deemed beyond economical repair and was written off. The accident was caused by two previous hard landings (out of the previous 27) which had gone unreported. One of the hard landings had caused a fracture in a landing gear cylinder, which spread until the cylinder failed, causing the landing gear to collapse. The aircraft was scrapped at Heraklion Airport in late February 2011. * On 2 February 2015, a BAe Jetstream 41 aircraft registered SX-DIA, operating flight GQ-100 from

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban ...

, experienced a left main gear collapse and

runway excursion A runway excursion is a runway safety incident where an aircraft makes an inappropriate exit from the runway. Runway excursions include runway overruns, where an aircraft is unable to stop before it reaches the end of the runway. Runway excursion ...

after a hard landing at Rhodes Diagoras Airport caused by strong winds. None of the 16 passengers or three crew members were injured. The aircraft suffered substantial damage. * On 21 June 2019, the 3 PM flight from Heraklion to Rhodes Diagoras Airport performed an emergency landing at Karpathos Airport after one of the engines exploded. None of the 47 passengers suffered any injuries.

References

External links

*
Sky Express fleet from airfleets.net

Sky Express (Greece) on ch-aviation.com

Report no 08 / 2009 on SX-SKY by the Air Accident Investigation & Aviation Safety Board

Report no 03 / 2018 on SX-DIA by the Air Accident Investigation & Aviation Safety Board
{{Airlines of Greece Airlines established in 2005 Airlines of Greece Greek companies established in 2005