Aviation History
Greek commercial aviation began with a short-lived 1951 merger of struggling domestic carriers into TAE Greek National Airlines, which folded in 1955. Shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis bought the state airline and relaunched it in 1957 as Olympic Airways, ushering in a period of rapid jet-age expansion including transatlantic service to New York by 1966. After a family tragedy, Onassis sold the airline back to the Greek state in the mid-1970s, and it operated as a state carrier for over three decades under mounting financial losses. Restructuring efforts led to a 2009 shutdown and replacement by a new private successor, Olympic Air, while a separate carrier founded in 1987, Aegean Airlines, grew into Greece's dominant airline and acquired Olympic Air in 2013. Today Greece's aviation market is shaped heavily by seasonal tourism demand and extensive low-cost carrier service from abroad.
Three struggling Greek airlines merged in 1951 to form TAE Greek National Airlines, which ceased operating by 1955.
Aristotle Onassis purchased the Greek state airline and relaunched it as Olympic Airways in 1957, beginning a period of major expansion.
Olympic Airways introduced de Havilland Comet 4B jets in 1960, marking Greece's entry into the jet age.
Olympic launched its first Boeing 707 nonstop service between Athens and New York in 1966.
Following the death of Onassis's son in a 1973 plane crash, Onassis sold his shares back to the Greek state, and Olympic became a state-controlled carrier by the mid-1970s.
Aegean Airlines was founded in 1987 and grew over subsequent decades into Greece's largest airline.
State-owned Olympic Airways ceased operations at the end of 2009 amid privatization efforts, succeeded by a newly formed private carrier, Olympic Air.
Aegean Airlines acquired Olympic Air in 2013, consolidating Greece's major scheduled carriers under one group.
Aegean Airlines · Olympic Air · Sky Express · Astra Airlines
General aviation-history sources (Wikipedia, Britannica, Greek news outlets); the Olympic Airways/Olympic Air naming history is easy to conflate, and current Greek airline market share figures may shift.