# Sky Express (Greece)

SKY Express (legally Cretan Aviation Operations Aviation and Commercial Societe Anonyme; Greek: Κρητικές Αεροπορικές Εκμεταλλεύσεις Αεροπορική και Εμπορική Ανώνυμη Εταιρεία) is a Greek airline headquartered in Heraklion International Airport. It was established in 2005 and operates a number of flights, serving 35 domestic and eighteen international destinations year round.
It is owned by Aviareps Hellas.

## History

The airline was established in early 2005 by Miltiadis Tsagkarakis, former Olympic Airlines director general and pilot, and George Mavrantonakis, former Olympic Airlines chief operating officer and accountable manager as well as advisor to the company president. Operations commenced in July 2005, including scheduled, charter, cargo, air taxi, emergency medical services, excursion and sightseeing flights. Sky Express Aircargo was later established as a joint venture with the Finaval Group and dedicated to cargo transport between Europe and the Far East.
In October 2020, the airline placed a firm order for four Airbus A320neo aircraft (the fleet now includes six of them). In addition, the company introduced a new design for their new Airbus aircraft.

### 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 pseudo-movement. The logo was not well-received, and following complaints by the public in Greece, especially Cretans, the logo was changed. The company said it did not consider the flag offensive, since it represented a milestone in the unification of Crete with the Kingdom of Greece, but changed the logo nonetheless to avoid any further confusion.

## Corporate affairs

In 2018, Sky Express carried 1 million passengers for the first time.
| | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| Turnover (€m) | 16.299 | 16.616 | 34.068 | 61.475 | 81.340 | 54.940 | 137.569 | 287.690 | 392.680 |
| Net profit after tax (€m) | 0.169 | −1.391 | −0.156 | 0.304 | −0.250 | −7.655 | −3.793 | −1.421 | 20.141 |
| Number of employees | 77 | 86 | 129 | 193 | 229 | 263 | 462 | 577 |
| Number of passengers | 85,174 | 168,116 | 496,562 | 1,000,000 | 1,200,000 | TBA | 1,717,191 | 3,303,997 | 4,146,921 |
| Number of aircraft (at year end) | 6 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 20 | 18 | 21 | 25 |
| Notes/sources | | | | | | | | | |

## Destinations

As of November 2024, Greek carrier Sky Express flies (or has flown) to the following destinations:
| Country or territory | City | Airport | Notes |
| Albania | Tirana | Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza | |
| Armenia | Yerevan | Zvartnots International Airport | |
| Austria | Vienna | Vienna International Airport | |
| Belgium | Brussels | Brussels Airport | |
| Bulgaria | Sofia | Vasil Levski Sofia Airport | |
| Cyprus | Larnaca | Larnaca Airport | |
| Czech Republic | Prague | Václav Havel Airport Prague | |
| France | Lille | Lille Airport | Seasonal |
| France | Lyon | Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport | Seasonal |
| France | Marseille | Marseille Provence Airport | Seasonal |
| France | Nantes | Nantes Atlantique Airport | Seasonal |
| France | Paris | Charles de Gaulle Airport | |
| Georgia | Tbilisi | Tbilisi International Airport | |
| Germany | Düsseldorf | Düsseldorf Airport | |
| Germany | Frankfurt | Frankfurt Airport | |
| Germany | Munich | Munich Airport | |
| Greece | Alexandroupoli | Alexandroupoli Airport | |
| Greece | Astypalaia | Astypalaia Island National Airport | |
| Greece | Athens | Athens International Airport | Base |
| Greece | Chania | Chania International Airport | |
| Greece | Chios | Chios Island National Airport | |
| Greece | Corfu | Corfu International Airport | |
| Greece | Heraklion | Heraklion International Airport | Base |
| Greece | Ikaria | Ikaria Island National Airport | |
| Greece | Kalymnos | Kalymnos Island National Airport | |
| Greece | Karpathos | Karpathos Island National Airport | |
| Greece | Kasos | Kasos Island Public Airport | |
| Greece | Kastoria | Kastoria National Airport | |
| Greece | Kefalonia | Kefalonia Airport | |
| Greece | Kos | Kos International Airport | |
| Greece | Kozani | Kozani National Airport | |
| Greece | Kythera | Kithira Island National Airport | |
| Greece | Lemnos | Lemnos International Airport | |
| Greece | Leros | Leros Municipal Airport | |
| Greece | Milos | Milos Island National Airport | |
| Greece | Mykonos | Mykonos Airport | |
| Greece | Mytilene | Mytilene International Airport | |
| Greece | Naxos | Naxos Island National Airport | |
| Greece | Paros | Paros National Airport | |
| Greece | Preveza | Aktion National Airport | |
| Greece | Rhodes | Rhodes International Airport | |
| Greece | Samos | Samos International Airport | |
| Greece | Santorini | Santorini International Airport | |
| Greece | Sitia | Sitia Airport | |
| Greece | Skiathos | Skiathos Airport | |
| Greece | Skyros | Skyros Island National Airport | |
| Greece | Syros | Syros Island National Airport | |
| Greece | Thessaloniki | Thessaloniki Airport | Base |
| Greece | Volos | Nea Anchialos National Airport | Seasonal |
| Greece | Zakynthos | Zakynthos International Airport | |
| Italy | Milan | Milan Malpensa Airport | |
| Italy | Rome | Rome Fiumicino Airport | |
| The Netherlands | Amsterdam | Amsterdam Schiphol Airport | |
| Poland | Warsaw | Warsaw Chopin Airport | |
| Turkey | Istanbul | Istanbul Airport | |
| United Kingdom | London | Gatwick Airport | |

### Interline agreements

Sky Express interlines with the following airlines:
* Air France
* Air Serbia
* Air Transat
* American Airlines
* British Airways
* Condor
* Cyprus Airways
* Delta Air Lines
* El Al
* EasyJet
* Emirates
* Etihad Airways
* KLM
* Middle East Airlines
* Qatar Airways
* Royal Jordanian
* Transavia
* Turkish Airlines

## Fleet
### Current fleet

As of April 2024, Sky Express operates the following aircraft:
Sky Express Fleet :
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers |
| Airbus A320-200 | 1 | — | 180 |
| Airbus A320neo | 10 | 2 | 186 / 180 / 174 |
| Airbus A321neo | 2 | — | 236 |
| ATR 42-500 | 4 | — | 48 |
| ATR 72-600 | 10 | — | 72 |
| Total | 27 | 2 | |

### Historical fleet

In the past, Sky Express also operated the following types:
* ATR 42-300
* ATR 72-500
* BAe Jetstream 41
* Boeing 747-200
* McDonnell Douglas MD-83

## Incidents

* On 12 February 2009, a BAe Jetstream 31 registered SX-SKY experienced a right main gear collapse after landing inbound from Rhodes International Airport. None of the 15 passengers or three crew members were injured, but the aircraft suffered considerable damage to its right landing gear, wing and propeller. The aircraft was deemed beyond economical repair and was written off. The accident was caused by two previous hard landings (out of the previous 27) which had gone unreported. One of the hard landings had caused a fracture in a landing gear cylinder, which spread until the cylinder failed, causing the landing gear to collapse. The aircraft was scrapped at Heraklion Airport in late February 2011.
* On 2 February 2015, a BAe Jetstream 41 aircraft registered SX-DIA, operating flight GQ-100 from Heraklion, experienced a left main gear collapse and runway excursion after a hard landing at Rhodes Diagoras Airport caused by strong winds. None of the 16 passengers or three crew members were injured. The aircraft suffered substantial damage.
* On 21 June 2019, the 3 PM flight from Heraklion to Rhodes Diagoras Airport performed an emergency landing at Karpathos Airport after one of the engines exploded. None of the 47 passengers suffered any injuries.