The Greek airline SKY Express inaugurated its route to Israel this past December. To mark the occasion, the company sent two of its senior sales and marketing executives to Israel for the IMTM tourism fair, where they presented the airline to the local market.

It turns out that SKY Express may be new to the Israeli skies, but it is by no means a newcomer to aviation. Behind it stand around 15 years of operations, an impressive growth story, and, above all, a quiet, smart and highly precise strategy. One that has been built from the small airports of Greece’s islands toward the international market.

SKY Express was founded in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. Not in Athens, not in Thessaloniki, but at the main gateway to Greece’s largest island. In its early years, the airline focused exclusively on domestic flights, operating a fleet of small ATR aircraft, turboprops capable of landing on short and challenging runways, exactly what Greece’s island geography demands.

Behind SKY Express stands the IOGR Group, which also operates in hotels and travel agencies. Within this ecosystem, the airline has grown into the most significant and direct competitor to Aegean. A term that is not used here by coincidence.

George Baliouskas and Fani Bazou Cravens at IMTM

In recent years, the company has undergone a transformation. Not merely cosmetic, but conceptual. Ironically, it was during the COVID aviation crisis that SKY Express chose to push the throttle control. While many airlines around the world were cancelling aircraft orders, SKY Express identified an opportunity. In a move that, in hindsight, looks almost bold, the company acquired new Airbus aircraft that other carriers had relinquished.

As a result, the airline renewed its fleet with 15 new-generation Airbus A320 and A321neo aircraft, equipped with highly efficient, quiet and reliable engines. At the same time, its ATR fleet was also renewed, with 14 aircraft. The result is impressive: a fleet of 29 aircraft with an average age of under three years. A figure that is rarely seen today among regional airlines.

SKY Express’s ATR aircraft currently operate no fewer than 33 domestic destinations across Greece. This is the largest domestic network in the country, and perhaps the most important data point for the Israeli market.

Because, unlike the classic “Athens–Santorini–back home” traveler, SKY Express is clearly targeting those who want to open Greece from the inside, like a crumpled map being unfolded on a taverna table.

The airline offers convenient connections from Athens to more than 30 islands, including Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes, Crete, Corfu, Zakynthos and more. No more chasing ferries at the port of Piraeus. No more long waits with a suitcase and sunscreen. Just a short flight, and on to the next island.

In 2020, SKY Express launched a broad rebranding and technology process: a new visual identity, a dramatic expansion of its route map, digital investments, and the official introduction of its new fleet. The slogan chosen was: “Greece is Bliss.”

It is easy to write a slogan. It is much harder to turn it into a product. In practice, however, the rebrand marked a clear shift in direction: SKY Express stopped being only a domestic carrier and began building an international network.

Today, the airline operates flights to 27 destinations outside Greece. From Lisbon and Madrid in the west to Tbilisi and Yerevan in the east. And this past December, Tel Aviv also joined the list.

“We came to Israel with a long-term perspective,” says George Baliouskas, director B2B sales at SKY Express, who arrived to present the airline at IMTM. “Israel is one of the strongest and most prominent source markets for inbound tourism to Greece. It is a large market for us, and we see real potential here. That is why we are fully committed to the success of this route.”

The airline currently operates a daily flight from Tel Aviv to Athens, with convenient onward connections to destinations that regularly top Israelis’ wish lists: Santorini, Rhodes, Crete, Thessaloniki, Corfu and Zakynthos.

And contrary to what is often assumed about competitively priced airlines, a business class cabin is also offered on board.

Another point that George repeatedly emphasizes is punctuality. According to him, the vast majority of flights land on schedule. A particularly sensitive issue in the Israeli market.

Fani Bazou Cravens, SKY Express’s International B2B Sales Executive, highlights the company’s flexibility in the Israeli market. According to her, prices are updated frequently in order to remain competitive.

In a check I conducted on several OTA websites, tickets could be found starting at around €130, including a carry-on trolley. By comparison, fares on El Al were around $253, and from Israeli airlines roughly $200 and up.

When I ask about seat occupancy or load factor, the answer is refreshingly honest. “It’s still too early to draw conclusions,” says Baliouskas. “This is a new product that is not yet sufficiently known to the Israeli public. At the moment, load factors are low, but we are seeing growth week by week.”

The bottom line: SKY Express is perceived as a good, affordable and highly efficient option for domestic flights within Greece and for regional European routes.

In Israel, the airline is represented by Tal Aviation (GSA), a long-established and well-known player in the representation of foreign airlines.

There is something symbolic in the fact that the airline was born in Crete- an island that represents an authentic, simple and unpretentious Greece. Today, as SKY Express lifts off from Tel Aviv to Athens aboard a brand-new, gleaming Airbus, it is trying to preserve that same basic connection: to be the airline that connects us not to a single destination, but to all of Greece. Not only to the Acropolis, but also to the tiny airstrip on an island you have never heard of. Not only to a vacation, but to a journey.