AirSea Lines

Last updated

AirSea Lines
IATA ICAO Call sign
---
Founded2004
Ceased operations2009
Hubs Gouvia Marina
Fleet size2
Destinations9
Headquarters Corfu, Greece
Website http://www.airsealines.com/
AirSea Lines DHC-6-300 Twin Otter De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter, AirSea Lines JP6338900.jpg
AirSea Lines DHC-6-300 Twin Otter

AirSea Lines was an airline based in Gouvia, Corfu, Greece. It was the first scheduled services seaplane operator in Greece in recent years. Its main base was Gouvia Marina [1] The airline ceased operations in 2009, citing bureaucratic and infrastructure hurdles.

Contents

History

In 2007 AirSea Lines expanded its network into the Aegean from Attica, using the port of Lavrio (instead of the preferred location of Piraeus) citing insufficient infrastructure at Piraeus for seaplane operations. The expansion to the Aegean Sea was unsuccessful which the airline attributed to infrastructural hurdles that prevented them from basing their aircraft at Piraeus. The company was forced to retreat back to its routes in the Ionian Sea. [2] [1] [3]

In April 2008 it was announced that the airline will be ceasing operations altogether, citing bureaucratic hurdles. The airline affirmed that it was impaired by incoherent regulations between the Civil Aviation Authority (which regulates civil aviation) and the Merchant Marine Ministry (which regulates commercial shipping). The airline blames slow bureaucratic procedures that did not resolve this problem in time, rendering AirSea Lines a loss-making venture. [2] [4]

As of 2009, one of AirSea Lines' aircraft is flying for Harbour Air Malta, others are in maintenance or for sale, and the company's website is now defunct.

While it is currently unknown if AirSea Lines will be operating in the future, the airline opened the door for other seaplane carriers, notably ArGo Airways. [5]

AirSea Lines briefly operated under the name Pegasus Aviation. [6]

Destinations

As of October 2008 AirSea Lines operated services to the following scheduled destinations: [1]

Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Flag of Greece.svg  Greece

From May 2010 AirSea Lines also planned to operate from Kefalonia, Greece

Fleet

As of August 2006 the AirSea fleet included: [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athens International Airport</span> International airport serving Athens, Greece

Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos, commonly initialised as AIA, is the largest international airport in Greece, serving the city of Athens and region of Attica. It began operation on 28 March 2001 and is the main base of Aegean Airlines, as well as other smaller Greek airlines. It replaced the old Ellinikon International Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thessaloniki Airport</span> International airport serving Thessaloniki, Greece

Thessaloniki Airport, officially Thessaloniki Airport "Makedonia" and formerly Mikra Airport, is an international airport serving Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece. It is located 13 km (8 mi) southeast of the city, in Thermi.

Olympic Airlines, formerly named Olympic Airways, was the flag carrier airline of Greece. The airline's head office was located in Athens. The airline operated services to 37 domestic destinations and to 32 destinations worldwide. The airline's main base was at Athens International Airport, "Eleftherios Venizelos", with hubs at Thessaloniki International Airport, "Macedonia", Heraklion International Airport, "Nikos Kazantzakis" and Rhodes International Airport, "Diagoras". Olympic Airlines also owned a base at London Heathrow Airport. By December 2007, the airline employed about 8,500 staff.

Greek vehicle registration plates are composed of three letters and four digits per plate printed in black on a white background. The letters represent the district (prefecture) that issues the plates while the numbers range from 1000 to 9999. As of 2004 a blue strip was added on the left showing the country code of Greece (GR) in white text and the Flag of Europe in yellow. Similar plates but of square size with numbers ranging from 1 to 999 are issued for motorcycles which exceed 50 cc in engine size.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhodes International Airport</span> Airport in Paradeisi

Rhodes International Airport "Diagoras", or Diagoras International Airport, is located on the West side of the island of Rhodes in Greece. The facility is located just north of the village Paradeisi, about 14 km southwest of the capital city, Rhodes. Rhodes International Airport was the fourth busiest airport in Greece as of 2019, with 5,542,567 passengers utilizing the airport.

Aegean Airlines S.A. is the flag carrier of Greece and the largest Greek airline by total number of passengers carried, by number of destinations served, and by fleet size. A Star Alliance member since June 2010, it operates scheduled and charter services from Athens and Thessaloniki to other major Greek, European and Middle Eastern destinations. Its main hubs are Athens International Airport in Athens, Macedonia International Airport in Thessaloniki and Larnaca International Airport in Cyprus. It also uses other Greek airports as bases, some of which are seasonal. It has its head office in Kifisia, a suburb of Athens.

MyTravel Airways Limited was a British scheduled and charter airline with headquarters in Manchester, England. It operated worldwide holiday charter services mainly for its parent company, the MyTravel Group. The airline merged with Thomas Cook Airlines UK Limited in 2008 and was renamed Thomas Cook Airlines Limited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hello (airline)</span> Defunct charter airline of Switzerland (2003–2012)

Hello AG was a Swiss charter airline offering holiday flights to destinations around the Mediterranean Sea out of EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg, Geneva Airport and Zürich Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heraklion International Airport "Nikos Kazantzakis"</span> Primary airport serving Crete, Greece

Heraklion International Airport "Nikos Kazantzakis" is the primary airport on the island of Crete, Greece, and the country's second busiest airport after Athens International Airport. It is located about 5 km (3.1 mi) east of the main city centre of Heraklion, near the municipality of Nea Alikarnassos. It is a shared civil/military facility. The airport is named after Heraklion native Nikos Kazantzakis, a Greek writer and philosopher. Nikos Kazantzakis Airport is Crete's main and busiest airport, serving Heraklion (Ηράκλειο), Aghios Nikolaos, Malia (Mάλλια), Hersonissos (Χερσόνησος), Stalida (Σταλίδα), Sisi (Σίσι) Elounda (Ελούντα) and other resorts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corfu International Airport</span> Airport in Greece

Corfu International Airport "Ioannis Kapodistrias" or Ioannis Kapodistrias (Capodistrias) International Airport is a government-owned airport on the Greek island of Corfu at Kerkyra, serving both scheduled and charter flights from European cities. Air traffic peaks during the summer season, between April and October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superfast Ferries</span> Greek shipping line ferry company

Superfast Ferries is a Greece-based ferry company founded in 1993 by Pericles Panagopulos and Alexander Panagopulos. Superfast Ferries is a member of Attica Group and operates 5 car-passenger ferries, offering daily connections between Ancona and Bari in Italy, and Patras and Igoumenitsa in Greece. Together with Blue Star Ferries, ANEK Lines and Hellenic Seaways, it is a subsidiary company of Attica Group, which is listed on the Athens Stock Exchange.

ANEK Lines is one of the largest passenger shipping companies in Greece. It was founded in 1967 by numerous shareholders who were inhabitants of Crete. It operates passenger ferries, mainly on the Piraeus–Crete and Adriatic Sea routes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kefalonia International Airport</span> Airport in Greece

Kefalonia Airport "Anna Pollatou" is an airport on the island of Cephalonia, in Greece. It is located in the southwest of the island, 8 km away from the capital Argostoli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santorini International Airport</span> International airport in Greece

Santorini International Airport is an airport in Santorini, Greece located north of the village of Kamari. The airport serves as both a military and a civil airport. With its redesigned apron, as of 2021 the airport is able to serve up to nine civilian airliners at the same time. Santorini is one of the few Cyclades Islands with a major airport.

Air Greece was an airline based in Heraklion, Greece. It was one of the first private airlines to operate scheduled domestic flights in Greece.

Athens Airways was a Greek regional airline, headquartered in Koropi, Athens. The airline used to connect Alexandroupoli, Athens and Thessaloniki with some Greek islands, as well offering chartered flights. The airline was founded in 2008 and launched scheduled flights on 31 January 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olympic Air</span> Regional airline of Greece

Olympic Air S.A. is a regional airline, a subsidiary of the Greek carrier Aegean Airlines. It was formed as part of the privatization of the former Greek national carrier Olympic Airlines, a company that carried the name Olympic Airways from 1957 to the beginning of the 21st century. Olympic Air commenced limited operations on 29 September 2009, after Olympic Airlines ceased all operations, the full-scale opening of the company taking place two days later on 1 October 2009. Its main hubs are Thessaloniki International Airport and Athens International Airport. Rhodes International Airport serves as a small secondary hub. The airline's headquarters are in Building 57 at Athens International Airport in Spata, and its registered seat is in Koropi, Kropia, East Attica.

Blue Star Maritime S.A., operating under the brand name Blue Star Ferries, is a Greece-based company founded in 1993 which provides ferry services between the Greek mainland and the Aegean Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athens Suburban Railway</span> Commuter rail network in Athens

The Athens Suburban Railway, officially the Athens Suburban and Regional Railway, is a commuter rail service that connects the city of Athens and its metropolitan area with other places in Attica, Boeotia, Corinthia and the city of Chalcis in Euboea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hellenic Seaplanes</span> Greek aviation company

Hellenic Seaplanes is a seaplane company in Greece with its own maintenance, training, flight operations and water aerodrome development strategy. The company's headquarters are in Kallithea, Athens, the fleet's maintenance base is at the Megara General Aviation Airport and soon will operate connecting all Greek Islands to the mainland.

References

  1. 1 2 3 AirSea Lines website Archived 15 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved 16 December 2006
  2. 1 2 Τα υδροπλάνα της AirSea Lines "φεύγουν" από την Ελλάδα Archived 2 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine www.capital.gr 30 October 2008
  3. Airliner World January 2007
  4. "Αποθαλασσώνουν" τα υδροπλάνα της AirSea Lines Rab Capital και Fidelity Archived 24 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine www.capital.gr 18 April 2008
  5. "ArGo Airways". Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 25 December 2009.
  6. "Pegasus Aviation Limited". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on 3 December 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  7. Flight International, 3–9 October 2006