Greek charter carrier Viking Hellas insists it is unaffected by the closure of Viking Airlines, and is taking steps to distance itself from its namesake.
Viking Airlines has had its air operator's certificate revoked by Swedish authorities until 31 March 2011.
In a letter to its pilots dated 19 October, it said: "With immediate effect Viking Airlines is terminating your contract. The events that have led to this are well-documented and relate to the collapse of our two biggest customers in the UK market."
Viking has returned its aircraft to lessors but vows to resume operations next summer, with Viking Hellas pledging to operate some services it had been due to provide in the meantime.
Although established as an affiliate of Viking Airlines in January, Viking Hellas says it is "a privately owned airline based in Athens, Greece and is not directly connected to Viking Airlines other than sharing a similar name". It adds that the relationship between the two carriers was "akin to an alliance".
The web URL flyviking.com, which had brought up the Viking Airlines website, began redirecting to Viking Hellas following the suspension of the Swedish operation.
"Viking Airlines and Viking Hellas are owned by completely different entities, they are totally discrete and their corporate governance is entirely separate," says Viking Hellas commercial director Roger Gatt, although he acknowledges that the airlines "did co-operate in some operational areas and in terms of procurement and shared services".
On 18 October London's Gatwick airport impounded a Viking Hellas aircraft for non-payment of fees but later released it. The airport says it had been owed money by both Viking Hellas and Viking Airlines, and that "the long-standing Viking Hellas debt has now been cleared".
Source: Flight International
