Macedonian Airlines (OA)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Macedonian Airlines

IATA SX	ICAO MCS	Callsign MACAIR
Founded		1992
Hubs		Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, Ellinikon International Airport
Focus cities		Makedonia International Airport
Frequent flyer program		Icarus Frequent Flyer Program
Member lounge		Olympic Airways "Melina Merkouri", "Aristotle Onassis" lounges
Fleet size
Destinations
Parent company		Olympic Airways S.A.
Headquarters		Athens, Greece
Key people
Website: olympicairlines.com

Macedonian Airlines (Mακεδονικές Αερογραμμές/Macedonian Airlines S.A.), is a defunct subsidiary of Olympic Airways, the Greek national flag carrier.

[edit] History of Macedonian Airlines

Macedonian Airlines was created in 1992 as the charter subsidiary of the Greek national airline, Olympic Airways. The company rose from the ashes of the former travel sector of the group, the Olympic Tourist. The company had nothing to do with MAT Macedonian Airlines, which was founded two years later, in 1994.

Macedonian followed the trails of its predecessor, Olympic Tourist, mainly for vacation planning until 1998. In this year the airline acquired two B727-200 from Olympic Airways. Starting with these aircraft, Macedonian offered charter flights of the Greek islands and the mainland abroad European. The society had reached agreements with different large tour operators. One year later, in 1999, the airline used new aircraft, by leasing two B737-400 to replace the already aged Boeing 727s. Since the company was an Olympic Airways subsidiary, all maintenance and handling was operated by the parent company, Olympic Airways.

Until 2003, Macedonian's fleet was also used on OA scheduled services, especially after the aging Boeing 737-200 were phased out. In July 2003, the company leased two McDonnell Douglas MD-83 that also used on charter flights.

On December 12, 2003, due to the mounting problems of the Olympic Airways Group, a restructuring plan was formed. Macedonian Airlines was separated from the Group, renamed Olympic Airlines and took over all the data and flight operations of Olympic Airways (including the IATA and ICAO codes).