Technical And Aeronautical Holdings
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Technical and Aeronautical Holdings () (T.A.E.) was a
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
airline formed in 1935 by Stephanos Zotos. It flew domestic routes until the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
invasion of Greece in April 1941 destroyed the fleet. T.A.E. resumed service after the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and flew DC-3 Dakotas until 1951 when the Greek government forced the consolidation of three extant airlines into one new nationalized airline which was called
TAE Greek National Airlines TAE National Greek Airlines (, , literally ''Technical and Aeronautical Holdings—National Air Lines''), originally branded in English as ''TAE National Greek Airlines'', was formed by the Greek government in 1951 to be the national airline of G ...
.


History


Before the war (1935-1941)

Prior to 1935, when Stephanos Zotos formed the Technical and Aeronautical Holdings, there was one nationally operated Greek airline, the Greek Company for Air Transportation (). The new company's first aircraft were a
de Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited (pronounced , ) was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of North London. Operations were later moved to ...
DH 87
Hornet Moth The hornet moth or hornet clearwing (''Sesia apiformis'') is a large moth native to Europe and the Middle East and has been introduced to North America. Its protective coloration is an example of Batesian mimicry, Batesian mimicry, as its simil ...
, registered as SX-AAI, and a de Havilland DH 82A
Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...
, with registration SX-AAK. Operating from a base at
Tatoi Airport Tatoi Airport is an airport located north of Athens, in Decelea. It started operating in 1918 and it now has a single runway with a length of 1764m (not counting the 347m threshold). The airport is used by the Hellenic Air Force and is the base ...
north of
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
. Due to the relatively small number of passengers traveling around Greece in the 1930s, T.A.E. primarily flew routes not covered by E.E.E.Σ. and used its aircraft and pilots as a training school. With the outbreak of World War II, and the Italian invasion in October 1940, most civilian pilots were mustered into the
Royal Hellenic Air Force The Hellenic Air Force (HAF; , sometimes abbreviated as ΠΑ) is the air force of Greece (''Hellenic'' being the endonym for ''Greek'' in the Greek language). It is considered to be one of the largest air forces in NATO, and is globally placed 1 ...
. However, it was not until the German invasion in April 1941, that the aircraft of T.A.E. were destroyed by the
Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
and the airline ceased operations for the duration of the war.


After the war (1946-1951)

As soon as Greece began re-building its infrastructure after the end of World War II, Zotos, freshly out of service in the Air Force, looked to re-establish the airline. He worked with the American airline
Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1930 until it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles ...
, establishing his company's offices in his home. Through this partnership, Zotos secured for T.A.E. three ex-
US Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troo ...
Dakotas, which were converted into
Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...
s in
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during the summer of 1946. These aircraft, registered as SX-BAA, SX-BAB and SX-BAC began service on July 30, 1946, from the newly established Athens Hellenikon Airport south-east of the city on the Saronic Gulf. These T.A.E. aircraft represented the first post-war civil aviation in Greece, with scheduled service to
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
and
Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...
. The airline's passengers waited for their flights in a large tent, until a proper terminal could be built, but the first year of operations the airline carried 11,000 passengers. The airline also operated as the sole Greek-flagged carrier in this period, and as such, it flew the Greek delegation to the
Paris Peace talks The Paris Peace Accords (), officially the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam (), was a peace agreement signed on January 27, 1973, to establish peace in Vietnam and end the Vietnam War. It took effect at 8:00 the follow ...
on October 4, 1946. In the summer of 1947, T.A.E. secured three additional DC-3s (2 from the United States military and one from the British
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
). The aircraft, registered as SX-BAG, SX-BAH, and SX-BAI respectively, were christened at a celebration on August 31, 1947, attended by the new king,
Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...
. Tragedy struck a few days later when on September 3, 1947, SX-BAB crashed near
Voula Voula () is a southern suburb of Athens along the Athens coast and former municipality in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, of which it is the seat and a municipal u ...
while on final approach at Hellenikon Airport. The
Greek Parliament The Parliament of the Hellenes (), commonly known as the Hellenic Parliament (), is the unicameral legislature of Greece, located in the Old Royal Palace, overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens. The parliament is the supreme democratic instit ...
determined in 1947 to charter three additional airlines:
Hellenic Airlines Hellenic Airlines (, also known by its literal name, Greek Air Transport), often abbreviated ΕΛΛ.Α.Σ. in Greek and sometimes also known as Hellas in English, was a Greek-flagged airline that operated domestic and international airline service ...
(Ελληνικαί Αεροπορικαί Συγκοινωνίαι, ΕΛΛ.Α.Σ.), Air Transport of Greece (Αεροπορικαί Μεταφοραί Ελλάδος, AME) and Daedalus Airlines (Δαίδαλος). Despite the new competition, T.A.E. managed to carry about 66,000 passengers in 1947 and over 184,000 in 1948. However, there were limits to the numbers of domestic passengers that the still-shaky Greek market could produce, and all of the airlines were constantly in jeopardy of failing. Nevertheless, T.A.E. purchased an additional 5 DC-3s from the RAF in
Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
, registered as SX-BAD, SX-BAE, SX-BAF, SX-BAL, SX-BAK. In 1948, T.A.E. saw another development, when on September 12, 1948, the first
aircraft hijacking Aircraft hijacking (also known as airplane hijacking, skyjacking, plane hijacking, plane jacking, air robbery, air piracy, or aircraft piracy, with the last term used within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States) is the Crime, ...
in Greece occurred. On a scheduled flight from Athens–Thessaloniki, with 21 passengers aboard, SX-BAH was hijacked over the island of
Euboea Euboea ( ; , ), also known by its modern spelling Evia ( ; , ), is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete, and the sixth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by ...
. The three hijackers demanded to be flown to
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
. The pilots were able to land 60 kilometers south-east of the town of
Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...
and, after disembarking the hijackers, the aircraft landed in Thessaloniki 4 and a half hours late. 1949 proved to be a challenging year for the fledgling airline as it suffered two air crashes. The first was on April 23, 1949, when SX-BAF crashed on landing at Hellenikon Airport. No one was injured, but the aircraft was a total loss. A month and a half later on June 6, while flying from Kavala–Athens, SX-BAI crashed on the north slope of Mount
Parnitha Mount Parnitha (, , Katharevousa and ''Parnis''/''Parnes''; sometimes Parnetha) is a lightly forested mountain range north of Athens, the highest on the peninsula of Attica, with an elevation of 1,413 m, and a summit known as Karavola (Καρα ...
killing all 18 passengers aboard. Due to economic recession and improved road and shipping infrastructure, the number of passengers flown by all three airlines reached a plateau at 324,000 in 1949. In 1950, Daedalus Airlines ceased operations as the number of passengers for all Greek airlines declined precipitously. Due to the financial difficulties of all three carriers and to ensure that Greece maintained a Greek-flagged carrier, in 1951, the Greek government forced the merger of all three companies into TAE Greek National Airlines, and Zotos' airline was absorbed even as the name survived.


Destinations

Technical and Aeronautical Holdings served a number of domestic destinations in Greece on an irregular basis in the period 1935-1941. After the airline was re-established in 1946, it began regular scheduled services.


Scheduled Service 1946-1951

*Agrinion *Athens *Chania *Ioannina *Kavala *Kerkyra *Heraklion *Thessaloniki


Fleet 1946-1951


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Technical and Aeronautical Holdings Defunct airlines of Greece Airlines established in 1935 Airlines disestablished in 1951 1951 disestablishments in Greece 1951 mergers and acquisitions Greek companies established in 1935