An equation with many unknowns is the resumption of flights from Ellinair, an airline from Thessaloniki that has suspended flights since March 2020, initially due to the pandemic. Since December 11, the company has been removed from the General Commercial Register (GEMI) for not publishing its 2021 annual financial statements on time. “TO” he unsuccessfully tried to contact – he did not make the necessary registrations within the ten days required by law, and also did not contact YGEMI for the purpose of setting out the reasons why the company should not be suspended from registration, as stated in the GEMI Announcement.

However, according to the information, the airline, which allegedly came under the control of a group of businessmen from Crete involved in tourism, is seeking to start flying. The same information states that the airline aims to initially fly exclusively outside of Greece and in particular in Dubai, aiming to connect the Emirate with destinations in the Middle East. In addition, the Russian market, which it dominated in the past, is inaccessible due to the war. There are no aircraft in Ellinair’s fleet (one Airbus 319 and four Airbus 320) returned to lessors with significant debts, sources said. So, her management is looking for a plane to support a business plan for flights to the Middle East.

Another hurdle the airline has to overcome is that it does not have a valid air carrier certificate (AOC) as it is not on the Civil Aviation Authority’s list of 24 licensed Greek airlines.

Ellinair, as a subsidiary of the Mouzenidis Group, started operations in 2013 in order to cover the needs of the travel agency Mouzenidis Travel in air passages, mainly to and from Russia. In 2015, it added scheduled flights from five bases to 42 destinations to its schedule. “Ellineir is not suspending operations, but is awaiting the resumption of flights. It continues to maintain its aircraft so that it can fly when the special conditions created by this pandemic allow,” the airline said in July 2021.