Privately-owned Athens-based airline Viking Hellas has announced that it is closing its base at Gatwick airport and rebranding to Fly Hellas from May 1.
The airline said the name change had come about in a bid to disassociate itself from Swedish airline Viking AB.
The base at Gatwick will close this month but flights will still be operated from the airport using crew stationed elsewhere. It now plans to have bases only in Greece and Cyprus.
Gatwick flights for the rest of the winter programme and the summer programme have been covered using other airlines.
A statement from the airline said: “Viking Hellas has experienced unfortunate media coverage in the UK due to incorrect association with Viking AB, the Swedish airline currently in creditor protection under Swedish law.”
Following the collapse of Kiss Flights and Goldtrail Holidays, it had been hoped that the carrier would start operating more flights out of the UK in the summer to fill the gap.
But the statement added: “It should be noted that, under the new brand name, only a small percentage of the company’s total capacity will be sold in the UK. The majority of seats will be sold in the Russian and strong EU markets, where revenues are currently much higher than in the UK.”
by Dinah Hatch
