Greece-registered charter carrier Viking Hellas has announced it will close its Gatwick base and rename its operation Fly Hellas to distance itself from association with sister company Viking AB.
The carrier will adopt the new name from May 1 and operate its two A320 aircraft from Greece and Cyprus bases only.
The Gatwick base will close this month but the carrier will continue to operate to and from the airport with aircraft and crew based in the eastern Mediterranean.
In a statement released this morning the airline said: “Due to the refocusing of its business strategy, Viking Hellas’ former London Gatwick base will be closed in February this year and all flying has been covered using alternative EU carriers, both for the remainder of the winter programme and for Summer 2011, keeping to the original schedules as contracted.”
Athens-based Viking Hellas said the name change was due to “unfortunate media coverage in the UK due to incorrect association with Viking AB, the Swedish airline currently in creditor protection under Swedish law”.
It has been widely hoped that Viking AB would be able to re-enter the UK market in the summer, following a refinancing, to plug a hole in charter capacity left by the demise of Kiss Flights and Goldtrail Holidays last year.
The Viking Hellas statement continued: “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.”
Websites are currently being updated and will be fully functional by February, 10 2011.
The Viking operation has been of great interest to the UK travel trade due to the involvement of Phil Wyatt, the former chief of XL Leisure Group which failed in 2008.
Wyatt has an interest in Viking AB through an investment vehicle Black Perl Investments and is associated through general sales agent Meridian Aviation of which he is a director.