Olympic Air drops London routes
Greek carrier Olympic Air is planning to drop its flights to London Heathrow and London Gatwick from March 27.
The move, which comes just months before the London 2012 Olympics open, will enable the carrier to focus on its expansion in south-east Europe.
The airline will also stop flying to Brussels, Paris and Vienna.
This news comes after the EU Competition Commission’s rejected the proposed merger between Olympic Air and fellow Greek airline Aegean.
The two airlines have also announced they plan to appeal against the EU’s decision.
John Karakadas, Olympic’s president, explained that new strategy takes into account the EU decision and what he described as“ongoing turmoil” in the market.
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“The reorganization of our network will allow us to address more effectively the challenges that surround us and to maintain the leadership profile of Olympic Air in our region,” he said.
Olympic Air’s new routes, starting on March 27, are: Athens to Belgrade, Corfu and Alexandroupolis; and Thessaloniki to Heraklion, Chania, Mytilene and Rhodes.
Passengers with tickets on old routes will be able to either get their tickets refunded or they will be able to rebooked tickets at no additional charge, to any IATA carrier, on direct flights, for same routing and date of the original ticket.