TAE Greek National Airlines

Infobox Airline
airline = TAE Greek National Airlines


image_size = 250
IATA = GK
ICAO = TAE
callsign = Greek
parent =
founded = 1951
ceased = 1957
headquarters = Athens, Greece
hubs = Athens Hellenikon Airport
fleet_size = 18
destinations = 16
key_people = Aristotle Onassis
website =

TAE Greek National Airlines ( _el. Τεχνικαί Αεροπορικαί Εκμεταλλεύσεις--Έθνικαι Άεροπορικαί Γραμμαί) was formed by the Greek government in 1951 to be the national airline of Greece. The airline operated without competition on domestic routes in Greece and served a small number of European and Middle East cities. The airline was sold to Aristotle Onassis in 1957 and he renamed the carrier Olympic Airways.

History

In the post-World War II era, there were four airlines operating in Greece: T.A.E. (Technical and Aeronautical Exploitations/ _el. Τεχνικαί Αεροπορικαί Εκμεταλλεύσεις), G.A.T./ΕΛΛ.Α.Σ. (Greek Air Transport--Hellenic Airlines/ _el. ΕΛΛηνικαί Αεροπορικαί Συγκοινωνίαι), Α.Μ.Ε./Air Transport of Greece ( _el. Αεροπορικαί Μεταφοραί Ελλάδος) and Daedalus Airlines _el. Δαίδαλος. Of these, T.A.E., Daedalus and A.M.E. were privately held and G.A.T. was publicly owned. cite web| last = Daloumi| first = Elias | title = Greek Airline Companies (in Greek) | url = http://library.techlink.gr/ptisi/article-main.asp?mag=2&issue=165&article=4194 | accessdate = 2008-09-20 ] In 1950, Daedalus ceased operations as the number of passengers for all Greek airlines declined precipitously. Due to the financial difficulties of all three carriers and to ensure that Greece maintained a Greek-flagged carrier, in 1951, the Greek government forced the merger of all three companies into TAE Greek National Airlines.

The 18 aircraft from the three merged airlines included 1 Douglas DC-4 Skymaster and the rest were Douglas DC-3 Dakotas. cite journal| last = Fragoudakis | first = Alexandra | title = Greek domestic air transport–industry and policy developments From post-World War II to post-liberalization| journal = Journal of Air Transport Management| volume = 6| issue = 4| pages = 223-232| publisher = Elsevier| location = Amsterdam| date = October 2000| accessdate =2008-08-16] The DC-4 was used primarily on the bi-weekly route from Athens to Rome-Paris-London. Additionally, the airline served the Balkan cities of Belgrade and Istanbul, Nicosia in Cyprus and the Egyptian city of Alexandria

In 1955, the airline was not performing financially and the Greek state sought unsuccessfully to find a buyer. Eventually, Aristotle Onasis agreed to buy the ailing carrier in July, 1956. The company flew under the name T.A.E. until April, 1957, when the airline was renamed Olympic Airways. cite web| last = Lahanas| first = Michael | title = Olympic Airways | url = http://www.mlahanas.de/Greece/Info/OlympicAirlines.html | accessdate = 2008-08-16 ]

Destinations

TAE Greek National Airlines served a number of domestic destinations in Greece, as well as international destinations.

Domestic Service

*Agrinion
*Alexandroupolis
*Athens
*Chania
*Ioannina
*Kavala
*Kerkyra
*Heraklion
*Rhodes
*Thessaloniki

International Service

*Alexandria
*Belgrade
*London
*Istanbul
*Nicosia
*Paris
*Rome

Fleet

References