Shortest flight in Europe in Greece! (photos)

One of the shortest in the world

Greek airline Sky Express, which provides connecting flights to Greek regional airports, has the shortest flight in Europe. It’s flight between the islands of Kassos and Karpathos lasts for only 5 minutes and is considered one of the shortest in the European continent and among the 10 shortest in the world. CEO Niki Karagioule-Karageorgiou says it is one of the most demanding routes as the winds over the Karpathian Sea are very strong and make piloting the planes quite difficult. “In winter there are often flights that transport only blood bags and medical exams to hospitals and health centres and vice-versa”, she says. Many tourists use the company’s services during summer for their one day hop overs to islands in the Aegean and Ionian Sea. However, the bulk of those who utilise these connetcing flights are actually locals who take care of their business with state-services like regional tax offices. “For example, to get to the tax office in the island of Rhodes it takes4 hours via ship and only 20 minutes with the plane”, explains Mr. Karagioule-Karageorgiou. Sky Express has added 18 new destinations over the past year and exclusively serves 9 new routes, connecting Greek islands with mainland Greece in Athens, Thessaloniki and Heraklion, while it recently signed a code agreement agreement with Germania in its efforts to expand its network and synergies. The airline’s fleet composes mainly of 40-70 seat ATR aircraft.

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