AirAsia in Greece? Athens to Rhodes on a Sky Express A320neo
Following a late night flight down from Vienna onboard an Austrian Airlines Airbus A320, I touched down on Greek soil at 0216. Set to jet off across the Aegean Sea to the island of Rhodes at 0700, that morning there was little point in me leaving the comfort of Athens Airport’s terminal building. Indeed, had I decided to leave, I would have hardly had enough time to explore the nooks, crannies and cracks of the Acropolis. Thus, after bidding ‘auf wiedersehen’ to the friendly Austrian Airlines cabin crew, I made my way up into Athens Airport’s B pier. This serves as the start and finish point of domestic services as well as many flights taking place within the Schengen area. Lacking any hold luggage and having already checked in online for my flight to Rhodes, I was confident that I could simply walk up into the terminal and wait for my next flight as is the case at many airports. Indeed, I had found this to be the case following my arrival on a Sky Express ATR-42 from the island of Astypalaia several months prior to this flight. However, once up in the terminal a series of barriers prevented me from heading straight into the airside departures area of the terminal and I instead followed signs for transfers.
Following the signs, I made my way down an escalator before being pointed towards another heading back up to the departure level of the terminal. Ensuring that no boarding pass-less passengers headed up to the departures level rather than to the arrivals hall, upon reaching the foot of this I was required to show my boarding pass and passport. Upon reaching the top of the escalator, I found myself standing at the entrance to the terminal’s security checkpoint. Thankfully, whilst I had arrived in the middle of the night, one checkpoint was open and no other passengers could be seen. Thus, after scanning my boarding pass on one of the automated gates, these swung open and I was able to walk straight up to this where I received a friendly greeting in Greek and English by both of the two staff members manning the checkpoint.
Having ensured to remove my electrical devices from my backpack prior to reaching the checkpoint, I was thankfully able to pass through this without any issue and soon arrived at the terminal’s large duty free store. Passing through this in the dead of night, I was incredibly surprised to find that this remained open although unsurprisingly no passengers could be seen browsing the many goods on display there. After making my way through this, I found myself walking through the collection of closed shops before I arrived at the terminal’s main airside waiting area. Given the fact that even at Britain’s busiest airports everything seems to close at night, I was surprised and delighted to find that two of the terminal’s five cafés remained open. Stopping by for a coffee, I headed over to one of these where I found that, as with all the other airports that I have passed through in Greece, items appeared to be sold at rather inflated airport prices. However, in need of a drink, there I begrudgingly parted with an eye watering €4.80 in exchange for a small cappuccino.
Wandering through the quiet terminal as I sipped my coffee, at that time of night, the terminal was relatively empty although as expected a few passengers could be seen spread out across the terminal’s diverse variety of seating options. Whilst little other than two cafés and the large duty free store were open for much of my stay, the terminal is home to a fair number of shops and eateries. In terms of its design, I found the terminal to be modern and clean, with different seating options on offer, some more comfortable than others – a number of which featured plug sockets and USB ports enabling passengers to easily charge their devices whilst waiting to depart. In addition, complimentary wifi is offered although passengers must reconnect to this every sixty minutes. For aviation enthusiasts and others interested in the happenings outside, large windows offer a view onto a number of the terminal’s stands as well as of runway 03R/21L, however thanks to the darkness outside relatively little could be seen for much of my stay other than the collection of mostly Aegean Airlines jets waiting directly outside at the terminal’s stands.
After wandering around I decided to settle in a reclining seat where I had a short nap before doing some work. As was to be expected, as time passed and the departure time of the first flights of the day neared, more and more passengers began to filter through to the airside portion of the terminal whilst a number of the facilities there began to open up. Thankfully, I had decided to invest in a coffee at the start of my stay, by 0500 long queues could be seen at all of the terminal’s cafés. Examining the departure boards, that morning had I not fancied heading off to Rhodes, a total of fifteen flights would depart from the B gates prior to my flight, with these bound for Amsterdam, Berlin, Frankfurt, Heraklion, Munich, Mykonos, Mytilene, Samos, Santorini, Vienna, Zakynthos and Zurich.
According to my boarding pass, boarding for my flight was scheduled to commence at 0630 however at 0600 the departure boards updated to show that the service to Rhodes would board through gate B20. Given the fact that no Sky Express aircraft could be seen outside the terminal at that time, I wasn’t particularly surprised to find this gate to take the form of a bus boarding gate on the ground floor level of the terminal. With all of Sky Express’ services departing during my stay boarding via buses, I found the ground floor portion of the terminal to be relatively busy however I did manage to find an empty seat near the gate where I sat and waited for boarding to begin. Whilst still having a fair amount of time before boarding was scheduled to commence, upon arriving there two Sky Express ground agents could be seen waiting at the gate podium whilst a bus soon pulled up outside.
At 0615 one of the agents at the gate made an announcement in Greek and English inviting those requiring assistance and those travelling with young children to make their way forward for boarding. Upon hearing this, a long queue of Rhodes bound passengers soon formed and once those in this began to shuffle forward, I joined the end of the queue. A short time later, my boarding pass was scanned and my passport checked as I headed outside and made my way onto the waiting bus, ending up as one of the last passengers to board the first bus that would trundle out to the Airbus. Once passengers were suitably packed in like sardines, at 0625 the doors slid closed and the bus slowly pulled away from the terminal, travelling a short distance down the flight line where it passed two Aegean Airlines Airbuses before heading out across the apron. Just two minutes after the bus had begun its journey to the aircraft, the bus came to a halt near the airstairs that had been positioned up to the Airbus’ forward cabin door at which point the doors opened and passengers spilled out onto the apron.
That morning, Airbus A320-251N SX-TEC would be transporting me across the Aegean to the island of Rhodes. Initially destined for AirAsia Japan as JA04DJ, this aircraft rolled out of Airbus’ Toulouse Blagnac factory in January 2020 sporting the Asian low cost giant’s distinctive red and white livery. However, with the ongoing Coronavirus induced downturn, the aircraft remained on the ground in Toulouse for quite some time and in October 2020, without having been delivered, AirAsia Japan ended its operations. Leaving this once Japan bound Airbus A320neo free to a good home, Sky Express snapped this up alongside three other examples that had been destined for Thai AirAsia and the ‘original’ Malaysian arm of the airline. Soon painted in the colours of the Greek low cost airline, the aircraft first took to the skies in November 2020 with the test registration F-WWDU. In late December that year, the aircraft was then ferried to Athens and was soon put into work flying to destinations across Sky Express’ increasingly expansive European route network. For much of the week prior to my flight, the aircraft had been based in Heraklion from where it had operated services to Amsterdam, Athens, Brussels, Corfu, Lisbon, Nantes, Paris CDG, Thessaloniki and Warsaw, also operating between Kefalonia and Athens and Poznan. During this week, the aircraft operated 29 sectors during which it covered at least 29,100 miles.
Returning to the journey, once off the bus I snapped some photos, resulting in one of the ground crew suspiciously watching over me as I waited for my turn to climb the airstairs! Following a short wait as I admired the comparatively large CFM LEAP-1A26 engine on one side and the dawn skies on the other, I stepped into the Airbus’ forward galley. Upon reaching this, I failed to receive any sort of greeting from the Purser donned in Sky Express’ arguably slightly garish pink and black uniform, however they could be excused given the fact that they appeared to be deep in some important paperwork. Turning right, I entered the Airbus’ all-economy cabin where 186 seats covered in a dark pleather covering could be seen. As with the other Sky Express Airbuses once destined for AirAsia, these feature an identical cabin to those of the Asian low cost carrier, coming complete with the airline’s distinctive bright red seatbelt straps and dark red carpets. On a side note, as per September 2022, all of Sky Express’ Airbus A320neos had originally been destined for another carrier, with all retaining the interior of their ‘original’ airline, and thus the airline’s Airbus A320neos come in three different configurations. Unfortunately, those originally destined for AirAsia are the least plush of these. For example, the two that had been bound for Indonesian carrier Batik Air feature a more spacious interior with 174 seats, each of which is fitted with an adjustable headrest and complete with plug sockets and USB-A charging points. Meanwhile the most spacious of Sky Express’ Airbus A320neos has just 162 seats and had initially been destined for Mexican carrier Interjet.
As I made my way down the aircraft to row 22, I gave a ‘kalimera’ to two flight attendants standing near the emergency exits in the centre of the cabin although disappointingly I failed to receive any sort of greeting in return. With only minimal waits required in the aisle, I soon reached Seat 22A, where, yet to be joined by any neighbours, I plonked my bag down and decided to pay a visit to the onboard facilities. As with most Airbus A320neos, this particular example features three toilets – one at the front of the cabin and two squished into one corner of the rear galley. Heading to one at the rear of the aircraft, upon entering this I was pleased to find this to be in a clean and presentable state, stocked with the basics and serving its purpose without an issue.
Soon returning to my seat, I sat down and settled in for the journey ahead. Starting with the positives, perhaps unsurprisingly given the age of the aircraft, the area around my seat appeared to be in tip-top condition, with no obvious marks or scratches. Importantly I found this to have been thoroughly cleaned during its overnight stay in Athens, with no sign of any rubbish or crumbs anywhere around. Meanwhile, in terms of comfort, the seat was soft and well-padded, seemingly far more so than any other low cost slimline seat that I have sat in recently. However, this appeared to come at the cost of sacrificing the amount of legroom provided, with this proving to be rather terrible. Whilst this would not be a major complaint during the short flight to Rhodes, I most certainly would have not enjoyed sitting in this seat on the flight to Lisbon undertaken in the previous week – with this exceeding four hours in duration! Turning to the seatback pocket, this contained a sick bag, a Sky Express safety card and a dog eared copy of the Summer 2022 edition of the airline’s Fly inflight magazine.
That morning, my flight to Rhodes would be the first of six Aegean Airlines and Sky Express operated services to head off to the island from Athens that day. With that considered, I was not entirely sure just how busy the flight to Rhodes would be. On the one hand, the early departure time would suit those wishing to get the best part of a day on the island. Yet on the other hand, a lack of flights arriving in Athens at that time for passengers to connect from and the hassle of getting to Athens Airport in time for the early morning departure offered some justification for there to be empty seats. With fifteen minutes to go, the second and final bus arrived and nine minutes later boarding was announced as complete. As it turned out the flight ended up being around 60% full and I was fortunate enough to end up with the luxury of having two empty neighbouring seats. That morning, as one would perhaps expect on a flight taking place wholly within Greece, most of my fellow passengers appeared to be Greek.
Seconds after announcing boarding as having been completed, the Captain’s calm voice filled the cabin as they commenced their long and informative welcome speech. During this, they announced that we would push back on schedule in five minutes’ time before going over the route in some detail and informing us all of the clear and likely turbulent free skies during the flight and the good weather on the ground in Rhodes. As this took place, I watched as a stream of what seemed to be newspapers was thrown into the cargo hold of a neighbouring Sky Express Airbus A320neo, with this particular example bound for Greece’s second largest city, Thessaloniki. Glancing outside, at 0700 the airstairs could be seen being reversed away from the aircraft before the crew armed the doors in preparation for our departure. A short time later, the Purser began their brief welcome announcement where they advised of a flight time of fifty minutes and boasted about Sky Express’ status as Greece’s fastest growing airline. This then transitioned into the safety announcement at which point two flight attendants took to the aisles and accompanied this with the usual demonstration. Once this came to an end, the crew then passed through the cabin ensuring all was in place for our departure and at 0709 the aircraft jolted backwards and was pushed back away from the stand.
As soon as the Airbus came to a gentle halt, its two large CFM LEAP-1A26 engines whirred into life and after the tug had retreated and the flaps had fallen into position, at 0713 the Airbus commenced its taxi over to Runway 21L. A short time after leaving Olympic Airways and Sky Express’ turboprops behind, the aircraft reached Athens Airport’s general aviation and helicopter stands. For one of Europe’s major airports, Athens Airport is home to an unusually diverse selection of aircraft of all shapes and sizes, these ranging in size from a trio of Piper PA-28s, right up to large and luxurious Gulfstream business jets and everything in between. There, plenty of business jets and turboprops operated by both local and visiting carriers could be seen parked up. Some of these are dedicated to the transportation of the rich and famous, while others play an arguably more meaningful role of shuttling the sick between islands and hospitals. Meanwhile, private, police and fire brigade helicopters could also be seen ranging in size from the elderly MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 to a large Aérospatiale AS 332L1 Super Puma operated by the Hellenic Fire Service.
After passing this interesting collection of parked aircraft, the Airbus taxied past the hangars of rival carrier Aegean Airlines and its regional subsidiary, Olympic Airways. At that time, several active and decommissioned Airbus A320s could be seen as well as one of Aegean Airlines’ lesser known aircraft, their single Gulfstream G550. Plodding along the taxiway, next up on our tour of Athens Airport was the airport’s graveyard. There, the most prominent feature was one of four Boeing 747-200s that once operated for Hellenic Imperial Airways. Having been one of the last remaining airworthy passenger Boeing 747-200s in the world, this had been withdrawn from use in 2012. During the airline’s life, the jet had popped into one of my local airports, Birmingham, from where Hellenic Imperial Airways operated a short-lived service to Jeddah via Athens.
Following our six minute taxi, the Airbus arrived at the end of Runway 21L where it came to a temporary halt in order to allow another Sky Express aircraft, an ATR 72-600 to head off on its journey to the northern Greek city of Alexandropoulos. After this turboprop had commenced its take-off roll, the Airbus lumbered onto the runway and came to a halt. Expecting this to be a brief stop whilst the ATR buzzed away and cleared the skies up ahead, the Airbus ended up sitting on the runway for about five minutes. After worrying for a few moments that there was an issue that would result in our return to the stand, fortunately, at 0725 the two engines spooled up before sending us flying down the runway.
After what seemed to be a short take-off roll, the Airbus rotated upwards into the sunny Greek morning skies. Whilst those on the opposite side of the aircraft would have been treated to a good view of the vast expanse of Athens Airport, during the first minute or so of the flight I caught sight of the picturesque hills and mountains that sit to the southeast of the airport. After leaving the airport behind, the Airbus climbed out over the nearby towns of Markopoulo Mesogaias and Lagonisi, and after passing over the latter the Airbus crossed over the coastline.
Just moments after heading out to sea, the Airbus reached land once again and passed over the southernmost portion of the Attic Peninsula before heading out to sea once more. A short time later, the Airbus headed straight over Greece’s answer to Long Island, the long island of Makronisos home to fewer than ten residents. This was then followed by the larger island of Kea and this behind, the Airbus soon reached the Greek Cyclades archipelago where I was treated to views of the small islands of Andros and Panormos, before the aircraft passed just to the south the famous island of Mykonos.
Inside the cabin, given the short nature of the flight, the crew were soon released from their seats and wasted no time in commencing the inflight service, with one trolley commencing this from the front of the aircraft and the other from the rear. Whilst Sky Express may be a low cost airline, the carrier provides all passengers with a complimentary snack service. Furthermore, unlike their full-service competitor, Aegean Airlines, Sky Express even offers domestic passengers a choice of drink rather than just a bottle of water. A short time after the inflight service commenced, the trolley that had originated from the rear galley reached my row and I was offered a choice of drink, with coffee, still water and orange juice on offer that morning. Opting for a coffee, this was hurriedly handed to me in a Sky Express branded cup along with a serviette, however unlike those in other rows, the flight attendant did not hand me a packet of biscuits. This was followed by a rubbish collection round several minutes later.
At 0738, the aircraft reached its cruising altitude of 29,000 feet however just nine minutes later, the First Officer performed their detailed pre-arrival announcement during which they informed passengers of the islands that we would pass on our way into Rhodes, updating us on the weather on the ground and advising that we could expect to land in twenty minutes’ time. As they undertook this the aircraft could be felt descending whilst outside the islands of Leros and Kalymnos could be seen passing to the north – both of which I had popped into on my last flight with Sky Express in June 2022. Before I knew it, the jet had reached the large and popular island of Kos, crossing over this near its southern tip allowing for a good view of its airport where no less than three business jets could be seen parked up on the south side of the airfield.
Inside the cabin, as we crossed Kos, the crew passed through this ensuring that all was in place for landing before retreating to the galley jumpseats in good time for our arrival. After leaving Kos behind, the aircraft passed straight over the small island of Gyali at which point Turkey’s rocky Datca Peninsula could be seen to the north, followed a short time later by the Greek island of Symi.
Following our scenic descent, the Airbus neared the city of Rhodes and turned to line up for an approach to the airport’s Runway 24. Sitting on the left hand side of the aircraft, this allowed for a good view of the city’s harbour and the historic buildings of the city centre although these were soon replaced by the high rise hotels and resorts of the Rhodes’ western coastline as we left the city behind and passed over the neighbourhoods of Ialysos and Kremasti before crossing the coastline. As the Airbus neared the airport, the tall hotels were replaced with more modest low rise villas and a short time later, the aircraft made its way over the airport’s perimeter fence.
After a short hop over from the Greek capital, at 0803 the Airbus made a firm touchdown in Rhodes before rapidly decelerating as if the pilots were in a rush to vacate the runway. Once off the runway, the Purser welcomed all passengers to Rhodes, thanking all onboard for flying with Sky Express before wishing everyone a nice day. Looking outside, at that time in the morning four airliners could be seen waiting at the airport’s apron. These consisted of a pair of Boeing 737-800s, one operated by Czech carrier Smartwings and another by Ukrainian carrier SkyUp Airlines, an Embraer 195 operated by Israeli carrier Arkia, and a GetJet Airlines Airbus A320. A short time after leaving the runway, the Airbus pulled up to Stand 5 outside the terminal and the jet came to a halt.
As often tends to be the case, as soon as the Airbus came to a halt at its stand, many of those inside the cabin stood up in a desperate rush to exit the aircraft. Fortunately for those in a hurry, once the engines spooled down it wasn’t long before airstairs were positioned up to the front and rear doors whilst buses could be seen ready and waiting to ferry passengers across to the terminal building. Once the doors had opened, passengers began to filter out and a short time later I picked up my bag and headed to the rear galley where I bid farewell to the crew before heading out into Rhodes’ very pleasant warm morning sunshine. After snapping a few photographs, I stepped onto the bus, and, being one of the final passengers to board this, the doors soon closed and we were driven away to the arrival doors for those arriving on flights from within the Schengen area. With no bags to collect, I headed straight through the baggage collection hall and made my way into the landside arrivals area where the driver that would take me back to my hotel in Faliraki could be seen waiting, thereby ending my journey with Sky Express.
Summary
Whilst Sky Express got me to Rhodes in one piece and only slightly behind schedule, that morning, I wasn’t particularly impressed with the crew onboard the aircraft who seemed to be rather cold and distant. This being a very different experience to that that I had experienced onboard one of their ATR 42 turboprops several months prior to this trip. Meanwhile, as mentioned, I found their high density Airbus to be not particularly comfortable although I could tolerate this given the short length of the flight. Nevertheless, so long as the price is right, I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to flying with Sky Express at some point again in the future.
