Olympic Airlines is the national airline of Greece. As home-airport, it has Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport and its headquarters are situated in Athens, Greece. The company flies to 35 national and 40 international destinations. A large part of this is within the country, because there are many flights between and to the Greek isCountrys.

The predecessor van Olympic is Icarus, which was established in 1930. Due to lack of interest, the airline faced financial problems and went bankrupt that same year. In 1935, its place was taken by G.C.A.T, which means as much as Air Transport Company. In that period, Hellenic Airlines was founded too. Because of the poor financial situation, the two companies merged in 1951. The new business was called Hellenic National Airlines T.A.E.. But that company failed as well. A deal between the Hellenic and Greek state and shipping magnate Aristoteles Onassis lead to the establishment of Olypmic Airways in 1957. The fleet was built up from aircraft that were left from the bankruptcy from Hellenic National Airlines T.A.E..

The new company developed quickly. In 1960, it received its first jet, the deHavilland Comet 4B. In 1965, the first Boeing 707-320's were purchased. That put New York within reach for Olympic too. Routes to Africa followed and the fleet was expanded with planes from different types, like the 720-051B and 747-200. There even was interest for the supersonic Concorde.

Shortly after the son of Onassis died in an aircrash on the 22^nd of January 1973 with a Royal Jordanian Airlines Boeing 707, the magnate sold all of his Olypmic Airways-shares to the Greek state. That changed the future of the company dramatically. Greek politici and families travelled with the airline for free or at a symbolic cost. The number of paying passengers was way too low. All efforts to save the business failed. The debts and the losses kept increasing. Nevertheless, new Airbus A340-313X's were bought to replace the older Boeing 747-200.

In 2003, Olympic Airways is rechristened as Olympic Airlines. It's said that this is a trick to walk away from fines and debts. There also a story that says the business will be discontinued in 2008 to be relaunched in a smaller package. The intentions is to maintain the flights to the isCountry and not to fire people.

Although the logo resembles the one from the Olympic Games, the airline wasn't named after this sportevent from Greece. The name comes from the Twelve Olympians. These are the most important gods and goddesses from the Greek mythology that live together on Mount Olympus.