AIRLINE NEWS

CANADIANS LAUNCH NEW CARRIER IN GREECE:    SKYGREECE

A new air carrier connecting Toronto and Montreal to Athens is set to launch this spring, TRAVELHotNews.com has learned. Founded this past September, the Athens-based airline is called SkyGreece and will operate with the Airbus A340-300 aircraft.Beyond Toronto and Montreal, the carrier will also serve New York and, at a later date, is expected to add connections to Chicago and South Africa. According to multiple sources, beginning in May, two weekly flights are scheduled from the Athens hub to Toronto, once-weekly flights to Montreal and three to New York.

The airline's three founders are Bill Alefantis, co-owner of Voyages Funtastique Rex in Laval, Quebec and wholesaler HI Tours, as well as Paniatis (Peter) Chilakos and Nicholas Alexandris, all of whom are Canadians of Greek origin. Chilakos was educated at the University of Quebec in Montreal and is a shareholder in HI Tours and Voyages Alcyon. Alexandris is a cleric who was educated at the University of Ottawa and lives in Toronto, where he is the director of the Metropolitan Centre of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto.

The A340-300 is a long-range four-engine plane with a 295 passenger capacity in standard configuration (three service classes). The planes will be registered under the Greek flag and will have Greek crews.

The company's mission is to offer affordable flights to the Greek diaspora returning to visit family in Greece. Since the collapse of Olympic Airlines in 2009, no Greek carrier has served North America.

Reprinted from YYZ Travel Group Business First Newsletter -  February 2013