Astra_Airlines
Astra Airlines
Defunct Greek airline (2008-2019)
Astra Airlines was a Greek regional airline headquartered in Thessaloniki and based at Thessaloniki International Airport.
| |||||||
| Founded | 2008 (2008) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations | July 5, 2008 (2008-07-05) | ||||||
| AOC # | GR-028[3] | ||||||
| Hubs | Thessaloniki International Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities | Athens International Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 4 | ||||||
| Destinations | 37 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Thessaloniki, Greece | ||||||
| Key people | Ioannis Zlatanis (Chairman) | ||||||
| Website | astra-airlines | ||||||
The carrier was founded by Ioannis Zlatanis, founder of Interaviator Ltd, and Anastasios Zirinis, former CEO of Olympic Aviation. It launched operations on 5 July 2008, flying from Thessaloniki to Rhodes.[4]
On 9 November 2019, it was reported that Astra Airlines faced severe financial difficulties and was searching for an investor to maintain its current operations.[5] The airline grounded all flights on the same day until further notice.[6] On 14 November 2019, IATA announced that it had suspended the airline and warned Greek travel agents to stop selling tickets on the airline with immediate effect.[7][8]
On 18 November 2019, it was reported that the airline would not resume operations for good.[9]
As of May 2016, Astra Airlines served the following destinations:[10]
- Athens – Athens International Airport - focus city
- Chios – Chios Island National Airport
- Corfu – Corfu International Airport
- Heraklion – Heraklion International Airport
- Ikaria – Ikaria Island National Airport
- Kalamata – Kalamata International Airport
- Karpathos – Karpathos Island National Airport - seasonal
- Kastoria –Kastoria National Airport
- Kithira – Kithira Island National Airport - seasonal
- Kos – Kos Island International Airport
- Kozani – Kozani National Airport
- Lemnos – Lemnos International Airport
- Milos – Milos Island National Airport - seasonal
- Mykonos – Mykonos Island National Airport - seasonal
- Mytilene – Mytilene International Airport
- Samos – Samos International Airport
- Santorini – Santorini (Thira) National Airport - seasonal
- Sitia – Sitia Public Airport
- Thessaloniki – Thessaloniki International Airport - hub
- Zakynthos – Zakynthos International Airport - seasonal
- Munich – Munich Airport - seasonal
- Tel Aviv - Ben Gurion Airport - seasonal charter
As of August 2019, the Astra Airlines fleet consisted of the following aircraft:[11]
| Aircraft | In fleet | On order | Passengers | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Y | Total | |||||
| ATR 42-300 | 2 | — | 0 | 48 | 48 | ||
| ATR 72-200 | 1 | — | 0 | 70 | 70 | ||
| BAe 146-300 | 1 | — | 0 | 112 | 112 | ||
| Total | 4 | — | |||||
- "IATA - Airline and Airport Code Search". iata.org. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
- "CONTRACTIONS FAA JO 7340.2". faa.gov. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014.
- "Action Plan on Emissions Reduction of Greece" (PDF). ICAO. Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
- "Astra Airlines Takes Off". capital.gr. 11 July 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
- politischios.gr - ΒΙΝΤΕΟ- Τελευταία πτήση της Astra Airlines ή υπάρχει ακόμη σωτηρία (Greek) 9 November 2019.
- "Greece's Astra Airways' Financial Difficulties Prompt HCAA Review". 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- "Greece's Astra Airlines Suspended From The IATA". 15 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- "IATA Grounds Greece's Astra Airlines". 15 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- aerotelegraph.com - "Grounding: Astra Airlines ends operations" (German) 18 November 2019
- astra-airlines.gr - BUY TICKET retrieved 21 May 2016
- "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World (October 2019): 15.
Media related to Astra Airlines at Wikimedia Commons
