DALLAS — Today, in 2015, the Athens (ATH)-based airline SkyGreece Airlines (GW) has ceased operations.
The airline was founded in 2012 by a group of Greek-Canadian entrepreneurs and a retired priest. Their goal was to offer “authentic Greek hospitality” and to enable Greek expats to travel to their homeland.
In December 2013, a former Boeing 767-300ER (SX-BPN) from Martinair Holland (MP) was acquired under the name “Taxiarhis” to operate flights between Athens and North America. It was also planned to use an Airbus A340-300 under the name “Agios Dimitrios”.
Operations began in 2014 with charter flights to the UK, Sweden, Somalia and Eritrea, as well as several flights during the Hajj season for Royal Air Maroc (AT) and Air Madagascar (MD).
The first transatlantic flight from ATH to Montreal (YUL) and Toronto (YYZ) started on May 23, 2015. GW also offered additional connections to New York (JFK), Thessaloniki (SKG), Budapest (BUD) and Zagreb (ZAG). The flights were very popular and well booked until the flight connections were discontinued.
“Financial setbacks”
A statement from the airline at the time said: “SkyGreece Airlines would like to apologize to all passengers affected by the company’s current operational crisis. SkyGreece’s founders, managers and employees care deeply about their passengers and are working around the clock to resolve the issue.”
“Shortly after launching scheduled international services in May, SkyGreece suffered financial setbacks as a result of the Greek economic crisis. Despite the resulting immediate and dramatic drop in ticket sales, the company’s founders worked tirelessly to maintain scheduled services,” the statement continued.
“Unfortunately, due to recent technical issues, the company is now facing a system-wide delay of several days and significant additional costs. For this reason, SkyGreece management regrets to announce that all operations must be temporarily suspended.”
Featured image: Boeing 767-300ER (SX-BPN) of SkyGreece in Montreal (YUL).
