For the shorter domestic flight, a proper meal service was offered in business class and yes both airlines offer a beverage service in economy, who says that a beverage service can’t be offered on a thirty-five minutes flight in Y.

Olympic Air gets a higher mark from me because a warm component is offered. Hot towels (more than wet hot paper napkins in OA) are first offered, followed by paper placemats. Beverage orders were than taken and a tray was offered. Today morning snack features two warmed pastries – one with ham and cheese and the other one is filled with feta cheese, and there was a bowl of yogurt with sour cherry jam – a new chef creation. Tea and coffee are also offered at this time.






Aegean Airlines offers a cold snack service, and real hot towels are first offered, along with beverages. Then placemat and a cold snack, and tea and coffee service are offered if requested. The cold snack features three small sandwiches – Turkey and radicchio and mayonnaise, Feta and sundried tomato, and Turkey and cheese, along with a Leonidas’ milk chocolate square.



I still like OA meal service a bit better and wonder what they offered on the similar flights to London. I wish I had the chance to experience its new business class meal services on its longer flights to Eastern Europe and Israel in the future. However they are in the midst of finding a way to merge with A3. Anyway. A3 offers a commendable service so I can’t complaint much.

Entertainment:
Aegean Airlines showed a movie on the flights to and from London, and free headsets were passed out shortly after takeoff. “Iron Lady” was shown on the outbound flight to Athens and “We Bought a Zoo” in the return flight to LHR. Then air shows remained on till landing. Domestic flights were too short to offer any video. But I cant’ recall that Olympic Air A320s feature any type of drop down screens as they perform their safety demo live. Duty free was offered after meal service on the Aegean Airlines London flights.

Magazines:
Aegean Airlines


Olympic Airlines



Flight Attendants:
Both airlines hire very young and attractive looking girls to be their flight attendants, and their uniforms include sleeveless full-length skirt, which the F/As wear for the domestic sectors. Honestly I find the Olympic Air F/As to be friendlier and more eager to go beyond their ways to make sure you have a great flight. However Aegean Airlines F/As are also polite and professional. They are great with kids but feel that they are not as attentive as OA. Nonetheless, it is hard to make a direct comparison as I did not have experience another flight on OA or flew a longer segment with OA.

Nonetheless I think A3 F/As can be more organized and the way they take beverage order is time consuming. They just ask you want to drink and then run back to the galley to get them, and then ask the next passenger. This can take a long time and the F/As could have just taken drink orders after takeoff and that will save them time and will not take away the personal time. Entrée services are good though and the return F/A from ATH to LHR just brought out both entrées for passengers to look at, and passengers just ordered them. Sort of like CX! Nonetheless I feel that they can do more service after the meal.

Conclusion:
Arrival experiences are actually very good with both airlines. Despite deplaning using stairs, both airlines offer a separate bus for business class passengers, which is not a big deal but a nice thing to do. European airlines like to cramp their buses, which make boarding a plane through buses unpleasant. If I am flying a LCC that is expected, but if you are a full service airline, you can afford a less crowded bus. Priority bags worked at both Athens and London for A3. Indeed I timed the return flight to LHR, my bag came out eighteen minutes after we parked at gate. My priority tag bags came out first. Anyway, it is a very nice experience flying these Greek airlines and they are a bit more personable than most major European airlines. I like A3 printed menus and wine lists. I still hope to get an OA flight with a longer flight length in the future and hope OA can bring back flights to some Western European cities.

Now random pictures:
Landing into SKG


SKG Tarmac


SKG Terminal


Olympic Air Stair


Arriving into LHR


Thanks for reading and the next report will have a “Hello and Farewell” theme!

Carfield