The barren air lines in Greece are becoming an intense… dogfight between SKY express and Olympic Air which claim 8 and 7 routes respectfully. The competition for the barren air lines is heading towards the final stretch, as the opening of the financial offers and the announcement of the contractors is expected in the next few days. However, we will not have contractors on all the lines, as no bids were submitted for two of them (Kalamata – Kythira – Thessaloniki and Athens – Kozani – Kastoria) and 6 lines will be retendered.
How is the competition for the barren lines going?
The tender, although it started with 28 lines, continued with 18 and, following an appeal by SKY express, it continues with 12, while a new announcement is expected for the remaining 6.
Specifically, in the new, large tender of the 28 barren airline lines, which will be awarded from February 1, 2023 to January 31, 2027, the following was noted:
– For 10 routes (Athens – Zakynthos, Athens – Ikaria, Athens – Kythira, Athens – Karpathos, Athens – Milos, Athens – Naxos, Athens – Paros, Athens – Skiathos, Thessaloniki – Samos and Thessaloniki – Chios) air carriers expressed their intention to their conduct without financial compensation. These lines were declassified as “barren”.
– The tender continued for the remaining 18 lines, however SKY express filed an appeal for 6 lines, requesting that they be tendered individually and not as clusters. The airline’s request was accepted by the Court and a new notice is expected from the APA.
– The tender, after the accepted appeal of SKY express, continues for 12 lines (Athens – Astypalaia, Athens – Syros, Athens – Leros, Athens – Kalymnos, Athens – Skyros, Athens – Sitia, Athens – Kozani – Kastoria, Thessaloniki – Kalamata – Kythira, Thessaloniki – Skyros, Thessaloniki – Limnos – Ikaria, Alexandroupoli – Sitia and Aktio – Sitia).
Of the above 12 lines, bids were not submitted for two (Kalamata – Kythira – Thessaloniki and Athens – Kozani – Kastoria).
The remaining 10 lines are claimed by the companies SKY express and Olympic Air. According to information from Capital.gr, SKY express claims 8 lines and Olympic Air 7.
– For the remaining 6 lines (Thessaloniki – Corfu, Corfu – Aktio – Kefalonia – Zakynthos, Rhodes – Karpathos – Kasos – Sitia, Rhodes – Kastelorizo, Rhodes – Kos – Kalymnos – Leros – Astypalaia and Limnos – Mytilini – Chios – Samos – Rhodes ) a new announcement is expected.
Today, the majority of the barren lines are operated by SKY express, the interests of businessman Ioannis Grilou, and Olympic Air, a subsidiary of AEGEAN, which have proceeded to renew their fleet of ATR aircraft.
