Icarus, the first predecessor airline to Olympic, was established in 1930. After just a few months Icarus went bankrupt due to financial problems and limited Greek interest in air transport. Ε.Ε.Ε.Σ. (Ελληνική Εταιρεία Εναέριων Συγκοινωνιών, Greek Company for Air Transport) took its place. At the same time, in 1935, a second airline was created, the privately owned T.A.E. (Τεχνικαί Αεροπορικαί Εκμεταλλεύσεις, Technical and Aeronautical Exploitations). Soon after World War II, in 1947, three airlines were based in Greece: T.A.E., ΕΛΛ.Α.Σ. (Ελληνικαί Αεροπορικαί Συγκοινωνίαι, Greek Air Transport) and Α.Μ.Ε. (Αεροπορικαί Μεταφοραί Ελλάδος, Hellenic Air Transport).
Onassis era
In 1951 the poor financial state of the three airlines led to a decision by the Greek state to merge them into a single operator, TAE Greek National Airlines (TAE). The new airline operated a fleet of twin-engine Douglas DC-3 airliners on domestic Greek routes until the last example was disposed of in May 1970.[8] A four-engine Douglas DC-4 was acquired in 1950 and this was operated on a route to London.[9] The new airline faced financial problems so the government closed it down in 1955.
There were no buyers for the airline so the Greek State bought the company back. In July 1956 the Greek State reached an agreement with the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis for Onassis to purchase the airline. The company flew under the T.A.E. name until the end of the year and for the first few months of 1957. On 6 April 1957, the company was renamed Olympic Airways (Ολυμπιακή Αεροπορία/Olympiaki Aeroporia).
The new company developed rapidly. To allay the distrust of air transport by Greeks, Onassis developed the "aviation days of ’57" scheme, providing short, free flights in a DC-3 to demonstrate the reliability of air travel.[11] Onassis always wanted to be in the cutting edge of the technology, so in 1959 he signed a deal to buy four de Havilland Comet 4B that in 1960 was Olympic's first jet aircraft, that entered service.[12] Olympic and British European Airways created the first codeshare flights; later the companies expanded their cooperation. When Greek crews had to spend a night in London, British crews would fly the Olympic Comets to BEA destinations, and the same with Greek crews and BEA Comets. On all BEA and OA Comets, there would be a "BEA-OLYMPIC" sign. In 1962 Olympic set a record for flying a DH Comet 4B from London to Athens in just two hours and 51 minutes.
In 1965 Olympic ordered Boeing 707-320 jets; they received the first, bearing the name "City of Athens", in 1966. Olympic's first Boeing 707 service was also the inauguration of a non-stop route connecting Athens and New York City (JFK). In 1968 Olympic began serving Africa, with a twice-weekly round-trip linking Athens with Nairobi and Johannesburg. The same year OA received the first of a fleet of Boeing 727-200 jet aircraft. A new Athens-Montreal-Chicago service commenced in 1969. Also in 1969, the airline phased out their Comet 4Bs.
Under Onassis' leadership, the airline gained a reputation for lavish style. The cabin crews were attired in Pierre Cardin-designed uniforms and passengers ate with golden cutlery and listened to the stylings of a pianist in the first-class cabin.[11]
In 1971 OA purchased new NAMC YS-11 twin-turboprop aircraft to replace the ageing non-pressurized Douglas DC-3 and the Douglas DC-6 pressurized piston-engined airliners still in use on the company's Greek domestic network. In that year they created a subsidiary airline, Olympic Aviation/Ολυμπιακή Αεροπλοΐα, to serve the Greek islands more economically and efficiently. To further this strategy, several examples of the small twin-engined turbo-propeller Short Skyvan utility airliner were obtained for operation on routes serving smaller Greek airports. In 1972 Olympic turned to the important Greece-Australia market, beginning Boeing 707-320 operations between Athens and Melbourne twice a week via Bangkok and Singapore.
Olympic then acquired seven Boeing 720-051B aircraft, a medium-range derivative of the Boeing 707, from Northwest Airlines. The airline also entered the wide-body era by purchasing two new Boeing 747-200s. OA even showed interest in the BAC-Aérospatiale Concorde supersonic airliner and, on 5 January 1973, a Concorde landed at Athens' Hellenikon Airport to give a demonstration.
Post-Onassis era
On 23 January 1973, Aristotle Onassis' son, Alexander, died in a plane crash; the event came as a shock to the Greek people and a new phase began for Olympic Airways. A few months later, Onassis sold all of the OA shares to the Greek state and he died shortly afterwards (in 1975). In 1976, under state management, OA purchased eleven Boeing 737-200 jet aircraft and created Olympic Catering, which served both OA and foreign airlines. In 1977, in a cost-cutting effort, OA shut down their Australia route, followed by the Canadian one in 1978, when OA also placed orders for four Airbus A300s, plus four options.
In 1984, three more B747-200 aircraft were purchased from Singapore Airlines, and the Canadian and Australian routes were reopened. A new Olympic Airways Cargo division was created by converting the Boeing 707-320 "City of Lindos", but the plans were soon abandoned. In 1986, there were strikes at OA, and financial losses mounted.
The company faced serious financial trouble from the 1980s on, mostly because of management problems. Greek politicians and their families travelled for free or token amounts on the airline. Successive Greek governments also made Olympic carry the press at a 97 percent discount. Olympic AirTours (Ολυμπιακή Τουριστική) was created as a subsidiary of OA, which issued tickets not only for OA, but for other airlines as well. Very soon, Olympic AirTours was renamed Macedonian Airlines and reestablished as a charter flight company.
In 1990 a route to Tokyo via Bangkok was launched but Olympic was soon forced to shut it down, despite very high load factors (95%). Olympic purchased seven Boeing 737-400 aircraft in 1991, as well as the advanced version of the A300, the A300-600R. Due to the rising losses and debts, the government decided to formulate a restructuring program in which all debts were erased.
Olympic Airways to Olympic Airlines
By December 2003, the Olympic Airways Group of Companies owned Olympic Airways (Ολυμπιακή Αεροπορία), Olympic Aviation (Ολυμπιακή Αεροπλοϊα), Macedonian Airlines (Mακεδονικές Αερογραμμές), Galileo Hellas (Γαλιλλαίος Ελλάς), Olympic Fuel Company (Ολυμπιακή Εταιρεία Καυσίμων), and Olympic Into-Plane Company. Olympic Catering had been sold a few months earlier. A company formed in the ’80s called Olympic AirTours (Ολυμπιακή Τουριστική) had already been transformed into Macedonian Airlines.[14]
Very soon the losses became excessive, so in 2003, the government restructured the Olympic Airways Group of Companies. The subsidiary, Macedonian Airlines S.A., was renamed Olympic Airlines S.A. and took over the flight operations of Olympic Airways, erasing at the same time all of the airline's debts. The remaining group companies, except for Olympic Aviation (Olympic Airways, Olympic Into-Plane Company, Olympic Fuel Company, Olympic Airways Handling and the Olympic Airways Technical Base), merged and formed a new company, called Olympic Airways – Services S.A.. In December 2004, the Greek government decided to privatize Olympic Airlines, but the sale process failed as none of the buyers was eager to repay the Greek state almost 700 million euros in state aid, which was later declared illegal by the European Commission in December 2005.
In 2005, the Greek Government looked for potential buyers to privatize OA. In April of that year, a short list of potential buyers was submitted that included Aegean Airlines, German LCC DBA and a Greek-American consortium called Olympic Investors.
Olympic Airlines to Olympic Air
On 6 March 2009, Development Minister Kostis Hatzidakis announced the sale of the flight operations and the technical base companies to Marfin Investment Group (MIG). As a result, after 35 years of state control and 10 years of failed sales attempts, Olympic once again became a private corporation. The new owners were to secure approximately 5000 of the 8500 jobs of the Group.
On 28 September 2009, Olympic Airlines ceased to fly to most of their 69 destinations, maintaining flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Cairo and all public service obligation routes within Greece, until the Ministry for Transport and Communications redistributed the routes in late November, when Olympic Airlines entered liquidation. Existing passengers were accommodated on other airlines. Employees of the old company who were in destinations no longer served may have been affected.
The last Olympic Airlines flight was flight 424 from Toronto via Montreal, landing at 11:10 on 29 September 2009 at the Athens International Airport. Olympic Air took over the rest of the operations on 29 September 2009 and their first flight was on 1 October 2009 at 06:20 leaving the Athens International Airport and heading to Thessaloniki Makedonia Airport.
