Sky Express (Greece)

Sky Express, legal name Cretan Aeronautical Exploitations (Greek: Κρητικές Αεροπορικές Εκμεταλλεύσεις Kritikés Aeroporikés Ekmetallefsis),[2] is a Greek airline headquartered in Athens International Airport. It was established in 2005 and so far operates a number of domestic flights, serving 34 destinations.

This article is about the regional airline in Greece. For other uses, see Sky Express.

Sky Express
IATA ICAO Callsign
GQ[1] SEH AIR CRETE
Founded2005 (2005)
Hubs
Fleet size12
Destinations34
HeadquartersAthens, Greece
Websitewww.skyexpress.gr

History
ATR-72 in Heraklion airport.

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.[3] Operations commenced in July 2005,[4] 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 a symbol of the Cretan independence pseudomovement. 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,[5] but changed their logo anyway in order to avoid any further confusion.

Corporate Affairs

In 2018, Sky Express carried 1 million passengers for the first time.[6]

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Turnover (€m) 16,299 16,616 34,068 61,475 ΤΒΑ
Net profit after tax (€m) 0,169 −1,391 −0,156 0,304 TBA
Number of employees 77 86 129 193 ΤΒΑ
Number of passengers 85,174 168,116 496,562 1,000,000 1,200,000
Number of aircraft (at year end) 6 11 11 11 11
Notes/sources [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Destinations
Main article: List of Sky Express (Greece) destinations

As of 2019 Sky Express operates scheduled flights to 34 destinations in Greece.

Codeshare agreements

Sky Express codeshares with the following airlines:

Fleet

As of October 2020, Sky Express operates an all-ATR fleet, currently consisting of the following aircraft:[15]

Sky Express Fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
ATR 42-500 5 — 48
ATR 72-500 5 — 70
Airbus A320neo 2 4 186
Total 12 4

Historical fleet
A former Sky Express BAe Jetstream 41 at Heraklion International Airport

Other than the current aircraft, Sky Express also operated the following types:

Incidents and accidents
  • On 12 February 2009 a British Aerospace Jetstream 31 registered SX-SKY experienced a right main gear collapse after landing inbound from Rhodes.[16] None of the 15 passengers and 3 crew were injured, but the aircraft sustained considerable damage to its right landing gear, wing and propeller that was deemed beyond economical repair, resulting in the aircraft being written-off. The cause of the accident was that the aircraft had previously suffered two heavy landings in the previous 27 which were not reported. One of the heavy landings caused a fracture in a landing gear cylinder, which propagated until the cylinder failed, causing the landing gear to collapse. SX-SKY was noted being scrapped at Heraklion airport in late February 2011.
  • On 2 February 2015 a British Aerospace Jetstream 41 aircraft registered SX-DIA, operating flight GQ-100 from Heraklion experienced a left main gear collapse and runway excursion after landing hard on Rhodes Diagoras airport due to strong winds. None of the 16 passengers or 3 crew were injured. The aircraft received substantial damage.[17]
  • On 21 June 2019 the 3pm flight from Heraklion to Rhodes Diagoras airport performed an emergency landing at Karpathos airport after sustaining explosion to one of the engines. None of the 46 + one baby passengers suffered any injuries.[18][19]

References
  1. "IATA - Airline and Airport Code Search". iata.org. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  2. "Ιστορική αναδρομή". skyexpress.gr. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014.
  3. "Profile". skyexpress.gr. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011.
  4. "Sky Express". airlinesxl.com. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  5. ΔΕΛΤΙΟ ΤΥΠΟΥ (in Greek). www.skyexpress.gr. 25 May 2007. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  6. https://www.businessnews.gr/el/epixeiriseis/epixeiriseis/sky-express-diplasiase-toys-epivates-tis-2018.html
  7. {https://www.airlinepros.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Sky-Expresentation-Product-Presentation.pdf
  8. {https://www.businessregistry.gr/publicity/show/77782327000
  9. {https://www.skyexpress.gr/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/5.-ΙΣΟΛΟΓΙΣΜΟΣ-ΚΑΧ-2018.pdf
  10. https://www.businessregistry.gr/publicity/show/77782327000
  11. {https://www.metaforespress.gr/aeroporika/αποκλειστικο-μεγαλύτερα-αεροσκάφη-π/
  12. https://atwonline.com/airports-routes/air-france-klm-partner-greek-regional-sky-express}}
  13. https://atwonline.com/airports-routes/air-france-klm-partner-greek-regional-sky-express}}
  14. https://m.naftemporiki.gr/story/1528659/sumfonia-diasundesis-metaksuqatar-airways-kai-sky-express
  15. https://www.flightradar24.com/data/airlines/gq-seh/fleet
  16. "Accident: Sky Express JS31 at Heraklion on Feb 12th 2009, right main gear collapsed on landing". www.avherald.com. 15 February 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  17. "Accident: Sky Express JS41 at Rhodes on Feb 2nd 2015, gear collapse and runway excursion on landing". www.avherald.com. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  18. "Αναγκαστική προσγείωση στην Κάρπαθο για αεροπλάνο με 46 επιβάτες". ProtoThema (in Greek). 2019-06-21. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
  19. "Αναγκαστική προσγείωση αεροσκάφους στην Κάρπαθο - Εκτελούσε το δρομολόγιο Ηράκλειο – Ρόδο | Kathimerini". www.kathimerini.gr. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
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