**Please note, Olympic Airlines now trades under the name Olympic Air**
The national airline of Greece
Olympic Airlines - now Olypmic Air - is the national airline of Greece, operating services to 77 destinations around the world. The airline flies to 35 destinations within Greece and 39 internationally, and operates from its main base in Athens, with an additional hub at Thessaloniki. As well as offering domestic routes such as Kos, Rhodes, Corfu and Heraklion, international destinations offered by Olympic Airlines include London, Paris, Istanbul, Geneva and New York. Olympic Airlines is known for its distinctive logo, 6 interlocking rings, and the company is named after the Twelve Olympians who, according to Greek mythology, lived in Mount Olympus.
Long and varied history, operating since 1940
The airline was launched in 1930, and originally named Icarus, then G.C.A.T. In 1951, all 3 of the airlines operating in Greece were merged, until in 1957, with involvement from both the government and the shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, Olympic Airways was born. During the 1960's, the airline arranged a code share with British Airways, purchased orders for the Boeing 707-300 and launched routes to New York, Canada and Africa. This was followed up in the 70's by orders for the Boeing 720-051B jet and the Boeing 747-200, as well as routes to Australia, and the launch of a subsidiary, Olympic Aviation, by Onassis' son, Alexander, servicing the Greek Islands. Tragedy struck when Alexander was killed in a plane crash in 1973, and Onassis sold all his shares back to the state - he then died shortly afterwards. During the '80's and '90's the airline saw vastly reduced profits and rising debts, with the government restructuring the company and its smaller subsidiaries in 2003. The company attempted to privatise the newly-formed Olympic Airways Services S.A., and is still looking to sell it to a foreign investor, seeing increased traffic in 2007. Olympic Airlines won a legal battle with the EU in 2007, stating that the government needed to repay the company almost 130 million Euros, stemming from legally subsidised routes and relocation costs.
Travelling to 77 destinations around the world
The airline carried a total of almost 6 million passengers in 2006, and earned 780 million Euros in 2007, with 500 million of that coming from its international routes. Olympic Airlines has a fleet of 39 leased and owned aircraft, including 2 Boeing 737-300's, 7 ATR 72-200's, 6 ATR 42-300's and 4 Bombardier Dash 8 Q100's for its short haul domestic and island services. For medium and long haul to Europe, the Middle East and North and South America, the airline uses 15 Boeing 737-400's, 4 Airbus A340-300's and 1 Airbus A300-600R.
