Olympic Airlines
Greece · OLYMPIC · Active
Airline Identity
History
Olympic Airlines traced its lineage to Greek carriers dating back to 1930, and was formally established on 6 April 1957 after shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis acquired the earlier airline TAE and relaunched it as Greece's flag carrier. It grew into a major international airline, introducing jet service with the de Havilland Comet in 1960 and transatlantic flights to New York in 1966, and passed into Greek state ownership after Onassis-family control ended in the 1970s. By the mid-2000s the state-owned carrier was in serious financial difficulty, prompting the Greek government to seek a buyer for its operations.
Current Operations
Olympic Airlines does not operate today: its flight, ground-handling and technical operations were sold to Marfin Investment Group in 2009, giving rise to the successor carrier Olympic Air (launched 1 October 2009), while the original state entity was wound down. Olympic Air was subsequently acquired by Aegean Airlines following EU regulatory approval in 2013 and continues to fly today as a subsidiary/brand of Aegean, which is now Greece's dominant airline group.
Last verified 2026-09-02· Source: airline public disclosures, company press releases & aviation-industry reporting.