Sky Express (Greece)

This article is about the regional airline in Greece. For the Russian budget airline, see Sky Express.
Sky Express
IATA ICAO Callsign
GQ[1] SEH AIR CRETE
Founded 2005 (2005)
Hubs
Fleet size 4[2]
Destinations 18
Company slogan The airline of Crete
Headquarters Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Website www.skyexpress.gr

Sky Express, legal name Cretan Aeronautical Exploitations (Greek: Κρητικές Αεροπορικές Εκμεταλλεύσεις),[3] is a Greek airline headquartered in Heraklion International Airport. It was established in 2005 and so far operates a number of domestic flights, serving 18 destinations.

History

The airline was established in early 2005 by Cpt. Miltiadis Tsagkarakis, a former Olympic Airlines director-general and pilot as well as George Mavrantonakis, former Chief Operating Officer and Accountable Manager of Olympic Airlines and former Advisor to the President of Olympic Airways.[4] Operations commenced in July 2005,[5] including scheduled, charter and cargo flights, air-taxi, emergency medical services, excursions and sightseeing. Sky Express Aircargo was later established in a joint effort with the Finaval Group, focusing on cargo transport between Europe and the Far East.

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 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. The flag has also been adopted as the flag of the Cretan independence movement recently. The logo was not well-received, and following complaints by the public in Greece, especially Cretans, the logo was changed. The company has said that they do not consider the flag to be offending, since it represented a milestone in the unification of Crete with the Kingdom of Greece, but changed their logo anyway in order to avoid any further confusion.[6]

Destinations

Fleet

The fleet of Sky Express consists of the following aircraft (as of November 2016):[7]

Sky Express Fleet
Aircraft In Fleet Due Passengers Notes
ATR 42-300 2 0 46
ATR 42-500 3 0 46
BAe Jetstream 41 3 0 29 [8][9]
Total 8 0

Incidents and accidents

References


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