Monday, August 31, 2009

List of stored & wfu planes in Athens Airport

This is a list of planes currently stored and/or withdrawn from use which are in Athens International Airport (ATH/LGAV) as of today. Thanks to Alex for helping to compose this list.

Reg Ex reg Model c/n Owner Comments
SX-BCL None Boeing 737-200 Adv 22401 Olympic Airways Used by airport fire dep.
SX-BFL N64TT Piper PA-31-350 31-7952171 EuroAir Used by airport fire dep.
SX-BMS HP-1049PS
Piper PA-31-350 31-7752122 EuroAir Used by airport fire dep.
N5766F None Piper PA-28-140 28-7725065 Daedalus Flight School Inc
N94528 None Cessna 152 15285705 Daedalus Flight School Inc
5B-CJY C-FTCB Cessna 421B 421B0026 Geomatics S.A. No landing gears

Friday, August 28, 2009

Air Canada to launch flights from Montreal and Toronto to Athens

Air Canada announced today that it will launch seasonal flights from Montreal and Toronto to Athens next summer using B767-300ER. Services will operate between June 3 and October 18. The exact schedule is as follows :

146 YUL1825 - 1040ATH AC828 (arrives ATH next day)
357 YYZ1750 - 1040ATH AC826 (arrives ATH next day)

257 ATH1215 - 1610YYZ AC827
146 ATH1215 - 1530YUL AC829

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Olympic Air took delivery of first dry leased Dash-8 Q400 registered SX-OBA

Last updated 24/8/2009 12:10

Olympic Air took delivery of their first dry leased Dash-8 Q400 registered SX-OBA (c/n 4267). It was a Flybe plane (ex G-PTHA) not taken up which departed from Bombardier factory in Canada to RKV (Reykjavik, Iceland), then BHX (Birmingham, UK) and finally NWI (Norwich, UK), where it was painted in full Olympic Air colors from 19/8 until today. It departed today from NWI as NOA037P and is enroute to CFU (Corfu, Greece), where it will do a night stop before continuing tomorrow morning to ATH.


Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 / SX-OBA / getting ready to depart from CFU to ATH (photo 24/8/2009)

Thanks to Keith Newsome for the following photo.

Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 / SX-OBA / departing from NWI to CFU (photo 23/8/2009)

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Lufthansa Cargo introduces Athens flight with MD-11F

Since the beginning of August, Lufthansa Cargo has introduced a once-weekly flight every Thursday operating from Frankfurt to Athens, Mumbai, Hong Kong (and via Almaty back to Frankfurt). The MD11F arrives Athens at 1105 as LH8458 and departs at 1235 as LH8459.

Lufthansa Cargo also announced that the routing Frankfurt – Istanbul – Frankfurt will be served five times a week after a short stoppage and on Saturdays, an additional stopover in Athens is implemented.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Aegean Airlines leased ATR72 schedule

Here is the schedule of the two wet-leased ATR72 of Aegean (operated by Swiftair). This schedule is valid throughout September and till now, the two airplanes appear not to operate from October 1st.

ATH0600 - 0705EFL0730 - 0830ATH A3440-441 13
ATH0730 - 0835EFL0900 - 1000ATH A3440-441 24567
ATH1105 - 1200LXS1225 - 1325ATH A3262-263 1234567
ATH1410 - 1510SMI1540 - 1640ATH A3244-245 1234567
ATH1730 - 1825LXS1855 - 1955ATH A3264-265 1357
ATH2030 - 2130EFL2200 - 2300ATH A3444-445 57

ATH0720 - 0820SMI0850 - 0950ATH A3240-241 1234567
ATH1030 - 1140KVA1210 - 1325ATH A3154-155 1234567
ATH1405 - 1515IOA1545 - 1655ATH A3414-415 1234567
ATH1745 - 1855IOA1925 - 2035ATH A3416-417 357
ATH1750 - 1905KVA1935 - 2045ATH A3156-157 14

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Aegean Airlines took delivery of second wet leased ATR 72 registered EC-KVI today

Aegean Airlines took delivery of the second wet leased ATR 72-500 in ATH, as we expected since yesterday (see post). It arrived at 18:30L from MAD as SWT991P and landed on runway 03L. Upon arrival it was parked on stand A38. This, along with EC-KUL that arrived yesterday, will be operated by Swiftair on various routes at Greek islands. The first one, EC-KUL, was towed into the Aegean Hangar and is expected to do some test flights tomorrow morning. It is scheduled to depart at 10:00L as A3 230 to KIT (Kithyra, Greece) and then JSI (Skiathos, Greece) before returning to ATH.


ATR 72 / EC-KVI / about to land on rwy 03L in ATH (photo taken 19/8/2009)


ATR 72 / EC-KVI / turning towards parking stand A38 in ATH (photo taken 19/8/2009)

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Aegean Airlines wet leased two ATR 72s registered EC-KUL & EC-KVI from Swiftair

Aegean Airlines will soon take delivery in Athens of two ATR 72-500s registered EC-KVI (c/n 824) and EC-KUL (c/n 809). They are wet leased from Swiftair and will be operated by them on various routes to Greek islands. They were ferried on 8/8/2009 from MAD (Madrid, Spain) to SNN (Shannon, Ireland) in order to be painted to Aegean Airlines colors in Lufthansa Aircraft Painting facility. On August 17th they rolled out of the paintshop and the same day at 21:25Z the first one, EC-KVI, departed from SNN to MAD as SWT991P. The second one, EC-KUL, departed today at 07:35Z for BGY (Bergamo, Italy) as SWT 992P and then will continue to ATH. They have an all economy layout of 68 seats and are expected to begin test flights immediately upon arrival in ATH.

Thanks to Malcolm Nason for the following photos.

ATR 72 / EC-KUL / parked outside Lufthansa hangar in SNN (photo 17/8/2009)


ATR 72 / EC-KVI / parked outside Lufthansa hangar in SNN (photo taken 17/8/2009)

Thanks to Gerry McCready (aerspace.blogspot.com) for the photo.

ATR 72 / EC-KUL / ready for departure from SNN on course to BGY (photo 18/8/2009)

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Olympic Air took delivery of the second wetleased Q400 registered G-FLBD today in Athens

Olympic Air took delivery of their second wet leased Dash-8 Q400 from Flybe, registered G-FLBD (c/n 4259). The plane was ferried on August 9th from BHX (Birmingham, UK) to NWI (Norwich, UK) for painting in full Olympic Air colors. Yesterday it was ferried back from NWI to BHX as BEE037P and was put directly into the Flybe hangar for final preparations. It departed this morning at 07:00Z as BEE031P and arrived in ATH at 17:15L. Two more Dash-8 Q400s are scheduled to arrive in ATH on wetlease from Flybe, G-ECOF and G-FLBE (see post)


Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 / G-FLBD / taxiing to OA hangar just after landing in ATH (photo 16/8/2009)

Thanks to Gordon Stretch (bhxflightguide.blogspot.com) for the following photo.

Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 / G-FLBD / arriving back in BHX, after being painted in NWI (photo 15/8/2009)

Friday, August 14, 2009

Olympic Air second A320 registered VT-DNY (to become SX-OAI) in SXF together with SX-OAH

The second Airbus A320 of Olympic Air was ferried to SXF (Berlin, Germany) yesterday. It is currently registered VT-DNY (c/n 3162) and in a few days it will be reregistered to SX-OAI. It is an ex Air Deccan plane built in 2007. It was ferried from AUH (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) to SXF via BOM (Mumbai, India) and again AUH. It is now parked next to the first Airbus A320 of Olympic Air registered SX-OAH (ex VT-DNV, see post). A small difference in the two tail logos is visible, with the logo of VT-DNY being slightly closer to the rear of the tail.

Thanks to Michael for the following photos.

Airbus A320 / VT-DNY / parked next to SX-OAH in SXF (photo taken 14/8/2009)


Airbus A320 / SX-OAH / parked in SXF (photo taken 14/8/2009)

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

ex Aegean Airlines Boeing 737s status (SX-BGH, SX-BGQ, SX-BGR & SX-BGX)

Aegean Airlines has returned to their lessors most of their Boeing 737s that they had in their fleet, due to the recent upgrade of their fleet with brand new Airbus A320 and A321s. Currently only 4 Boeing 737s are left in their fleet, used mainly for charter flights. Below is a brief history of what happened to 4 of their Boeing 737s after leaving Athens.

SX-BGH
c/n 23866
Leased from Boullioun Aviation (transferred to ACG Acquisitions since 2006)

Departed from ATH on 3/2/2009 and was ferried as AEE002F to NWI (Norwich, UK). Around mid May it had its Aegean colors removed and stayed in bare metal in the Eastern Apron for a few days. On 28/5/2009 it did a test flight as AEE002T and the next day went into the paintshop. It came out on 5/6/2009 painted in brown primer and did another test flight as AEE002T. For the following couple of days it was doing low power engine runs in the Eastern Apron. On 25/6/2009 it was towed in the North Western Storage area of the airport and is parked there until today.

Thanks to Paul for the following photos.

Boeing 737 / SX-BGH / parked in NWI in bare metal (photo 21/5/2009)


Boeing 737 / SX-BGH / being towed to the paintshop after a test flight (photo 28/5/2009)


Boeing 737 / SX-BGH / just out of the paintshop in brown primer (photo 5/6/2009)


SX-BGQ
c/n 25177
Leased from AerCap

Departed from ATH on 5/5/2009 and was ferried as AEE002F to SNN (Shannon, Ireland). It was put in Shannon Aerospace hangar and came out all white on 6/7/2009. The same day it did a test flight with a GECAS crew, using the registration as callsign. On 22/7/2009 it did another test flight with Aegean Airlines crew and callsign AEE001F. It is parked in SNN until today.

Thanks to Gerry McCready (aerspace.blogspot.com) for the following photo.

Boeing 737 / SX-BGQ / taxing in SNN after a test flight (photo 22/7/2009)


SX-BGR
c/n 25063
Leased from Boullioun Aviation (transferred to ACG Acquisitions since 2006)

Departed from ATH on 13/4/2009 and was ferried as AEE002F to NWI. It then had its Aegean Airlines titles removed and on 25/6/2009 it was towed to the Northern Storage area of the airport. On 15/7/2009 it did a test flight as AEE007F and upon landing it went into KLM Engineering hangar. It is parked in NWI until today.

Thanks to Paul for the following photo.

Boeing 737 / SX-BGR / parked in NWI and being inspected by KLM engineers (photo 9/6/2009)


SX-BGX
c/n 24124
Leased from CIT Aerospace

Departed from ATH on 17/11/2008 and was ferried as AEE004F to NWI. On 18/1/2009 it did a test flight as AEE007, including 2 ILS approaches to NWI. On 3/4/2009 it was seen registered JY-JAP in full Aegean Airlines colors. The next day it departed from NWI and was ferried to ADJ (Amman, Jordan). It was acquired by Jordan Aviation and was then subleased to Buraq Air. It is operating for them until today.

Thanks to Paul for the following photo.

Boeing 737 / JY-JAP / parked in NWI one day before its ferry flight to ADJ (photo 3/4/2009)

Friday, August 7, 2009

Olympic Airbus A319 registered SX-OAL painted in Southend

Another Olympic Air Airbus A319 got painted in SEN (Southend, UK) 24/7 but remained with the M-ABCJ registration until a couple of days ago. It is registered SX-OAL (c/n 3252) and is an ex Mandala Airlines plane registered PK-RMD. It was ferried from DXB (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) to SEN via SAW (Istanbul, Turkey) and IOM (Isle of Man) registered as M-ABCJ. It is leased by CIT Aerospace.

Thanks to Mike Cain for the photo.

Airbus A319 / SX-OAL / painted in full Olympic Air colors in SEN (photo 7/8/2009)

Thanks to Keith Burton for the photo.

Airbus A319 / SX-OAL / painted in full Olympic Air colors in SEN (photo 7/8/2009)

Fokker 50 registered SX-BRV arrived in Athens

The third Fokker 50 that was seen all white in AMS (see post), registered SX-BRV, arrived in Athens today at 01:40L. It is parked on closed taxiway "Zulu" together with the other 2 Fokker 50s, registered PH-KVE and PH-KVF, that were already in Athens since July 31st (see post). They are expected to be the startup fleet of Hellas Aviation, a joint venture between First Prop Aviation and Hellas Jet. The former two planes, PH-KVE and PH-KVF, were resold in a deal that was arranged by Cabot Aviation -who was responsible to sell the ex KLM Cityhopper planes to potential buyers- to First Prop Aviation. At least those two are expected to be wet leased to Hellas Jet and start flights within the next couple of weeks.


Fokker 50 / SX-BRV / parked in ATH (photo 7/8/2009)


Fokker 50s / SX-BRV & PH-KVF & PH-KVE / parked all together in ATH (photo 7/8/2009)

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Vueling flight 2901 received a bomb threat in Athens

A bomb threat was made against the Vueling flight 2901 from ATH to BCN (Barcelona, Spain) today. After boarding was finished, a passenger found a note stating that there is a bomb on board. An emergency was declared and the plane was moved to a remote position (west of the bridge on taxiway "Kilo"). All 148 passengers were disembarked safely and the plane was searched but no traces of explosives were found. The plane involved is an Airbus A320 registered EC-GRH. The flight is expected to depart from Athens at 00:15L to continue to Barcelona.


Airbus A320 / EC-GRH / parked in a remote location in ATH

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Aegean Airlines changing from STN to LHR in London

Aegean Airlines are transferring their activities in London from STN (Stansted) to LHR (Heathrow) effective October 25th 2009. As a result (probably due to slot availability) the daily flights to London are now reduced to two per day, while there were three daily flights to STN. The flights' schedule for Heathrow is as follows:
ATH - LHR
A3 602 09:10 - 11:15
A3 606 17:20 - 19:20

LHR - ATH
A3 603 12:45 - 18:30
A3 607 20:20 - 02:05+


The flights will be operated daily with an Airbus A321. Aegean Airlines will also sign a codeshare agreement with BMI in order its passengers to have available connections from Heathrow to Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle.

Olympic Air takes delivery of the first Airbus A319 registered SX-OAJ in Athens today

Olympic Air took delivery of their first Airbus A319 registered SX-OAJ in ATH today. It arrived in full colors at 13:45L, having been painted in SNN (Shannon, Ireland) just yesterday. This is an ex Mexicana plane (c/n 3905) not taken up, that was ferried from XFW (Hamburg, Germany) to SNN in order to be painted (see post). The strange with this flight is that on the FMC of the plane the callsign of the flight was AEE001, which is an Aegean Airlines callsign. On the radio communications though it used callsign "Olympic SX-OAJ". Upon arrival it went directly into the Olympic Air Hangar. The plane is leased from RBS Aviation Capital.


Airbus A319 / SX-OAJ / about to land on rwy 03R in ATH (photo 5/8/2009)

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

SunExpress start Izmir - Athens flights

SunExpress (XQ/SXS) performed today the innaugural flights between ADB (Izmir, Turkey) and ATH. The schedule flights will commence on 15/8/2009. The route will be operated two times every week (on Tuesdays and Saturdays) with a Boeing 737-800. The complete schedule is as follows:
ADB - ATH
XQ 910 12:15 - 13:15 *2***6*
ATH - ADB
XQ 911 14:00 - 14:50 *2***6*

Today, as an exception to the above schedule, the following flight to/from ADB will be operated as well:
ADB - ATH
XQ 1910 18:00 - 19:00
ATH - ADB
XQ 1911 20:00 - 20:50


Boeing 737 / TC-SNI / the inaugural flight from ADB is about to land on rwy 03L in ATH (photo 4/8/2009)

Monday, August 3, 2009

Meelad Air MD-83s registered SX-BLL and SX-BPP in HER

Two MD-83s of Meelad Air registered SX-BLL (ex JY-JRC, c/n 49933) and SX-BPP (ex JY-JRB, c/n 53377) are parked in HER (Heraklion, Greece) for several months waiting to be used under Sky Express' AOC. These two MD-83s had been in the Greek registry in the past as SX-DMH and SX-DMM respectively. Meelad Air is said to have applied for its own Greek AOC to the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority.

Thanks to George Pantalos for the photo.

MD-83s / SX-BLL & SX-BPP / parked in HER

Fokker 50 registered SX-BRV seen all white in AMS

Another all white Fokker 50 registered SX-BRV (named "Victor") is parked in AMS and is probably waiting delivery to Hellas Aviation (along with the other two Fokker 50s, see post). It is an ex SAS Norge plane that was returned to lessor and was parked for long registered as PH-ZDI (c/n 20199). Delivery date is not yet known.

Thanks to Ger Buskermolen (schipholspotter.blogspot.com) for the photo.

Fokker 50 / SX-BRV / parked in AMS (photo 30/7/2009)

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Olympic Air start up fleet

Last updated 27/9/2009 21:50

This is a list of planes that will form the startup fleet of Olympic Air. It will be updated as soon as we learn something new. Registration in bold is the current registration the plane carries. Thanks to George Pantalos for the initial list of SX reged planes due for Olympic Air.

RegTypec/nEx regCurrently atColors
SX-OAFAIRBUS A319-1123895D-AHIPATHNew OA
SX-OAGAIRBUS A319-1123950D-AHIQATHNew OA
SX-OAHAIRBUS A320-2323316VT-DNVATHNew OA
SX-OAIAIRBUS A320-2323162VT-DNYATHNew OA
SX-OAJAIRBUS A319-1123905D-AVWSATHNew OA
SX-OAKAIRBUS A319-1323317M-ABCKATHNew OA
SX-OALAIRBUS A319-1323252M-ABCJATHNew OA
SX-OAMAIRBUS A320-2323990F-WWBYXFWWhite
SX-OANAIRBUS A319-132LR1727D-APACATHNew OA
SX-OAOAIRBUS A319-132LR1880D-APADATHNew OA
SX-OAPAIRBUS A320-2324065
XFWPrimer
SX-OAQAIRBUS A320-2323748F-WWBQATHNew OA
SX-OARAIRBUS A320-2323812D-AVVEATHNew OA
SX-OASAIRBUS A320-2324094D-AVVBXXXXXX
SX-OAVAIRBUS A319-1323142M-ABCL
ATHNew OA
SX-AIRBUS A320-2144190
XXXXXX
SX-AIRBUS A320-2144193
XXXXXX
SX-OBADHC-8Q-4004267G-PTHAATHNew OA
SX-OBBDHC-8Q-4004268G-PTHBATHNew OA
SX-OBCDHC-8Q-4004276
XXXXXX
SX-BITDHC-8Q-4004148G-JECVATHNew OA
SX-BIUDHC-8Q-4004152G-JECWATH
New OA
SX-BIODHC-8-100330C-GZQZATHOld OA
SX-BIPDHC-8-100347C-GZRAATHOld OA
SX-BIQDHC-8-100361C-GZRDEXTNew OA
SX-BIRDHC-8-100364C-GZRFATHOld OA
SX-DHC-8-100289OE-HWGATHAustroJet
G-ECOEDHC-8Q-4004212LN-WDVATHNew OA
G-ECOFDHC-8Q-4004216LN-WDWEXTNew OA
G-FLBDDHC-8Q-4004259C-FWZNATHNew OA
G-FLBEDHC-8Q-4004261C-FXABYZDXXX

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Olympic Air to take delivery of the first Q400 registered G-ECOE today in Athens

Last updated 5/8/2009 12:20

Olympic Air will take delivery of their first fully painted plane in ATH today. It is a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 registered G-ECOE. It is scheduled to arrive in ATH from SOU (Southampton, UK) at 20:00L. As we have written on July 23rd, it was painted in EIN (Eindhoven, Netherlands) and was ferried on 21/7/2009 to EXT (Exeter, UK) for final checks before being used by OA (see post). The checks were completed and the plane was ready to fly for Olympic Air. A team of Flybe's finest engineers has been formed and all together departed EXT this morning at 10:30Z. After departure from EXT and while in flight a door warning on the rear baggage bay door and a PTU fault indication forced the plane to divert to SOU. Since Flybe's finest engineers were onboard (in order to be based in Athens to look after the wet leased planes), they managed to fix the problems on the spot and continued the flight to Greece. This is the first (out of 4 agreed) plane that is wet leased from Flybe in order to assist Olympic Air at their start up period of August 2009 - September 2010 (see post). Photos of the plane in ATH will follow tomorrow, upon plane's arrival later tonight.


Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 / G-ECOE / parked in EXT, ready to be ferried to ATH (photo 31/7/2009)

Update 3/8/2009 19:50
Added the following photo of G-ECOE coming to land in ATH after a test flight to JKH (Chios, Greece)

Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 / G-ECOE / about to land in ATH, returning from a test flight (photo 3/8/2009)

Update 5/8/2009
The reason for diversion to SOU was identified and the post above was edited to include that.