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Sky Wings Airlines Discussion
Never again would i travel with this company.Listen to what people are saying and stay well clear.I can cope with delays but not with an aircraft that should be taken out of service.I love Greece and the Greek people but never forget it's your money they want and never more so than now.
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After last years holiday booked with Olympic holidays it was with out hesitation to book again...... how wrong was i booked late and picked tickets up at bham at 6.30 ready for check in at 7am 13th aug to Lanrana Cyprus so far so good. Only to be told flight will be delayed and will not be departing till 12. At 12.25 we finally got to board the plane. Only to be seated on a plane with ripped seats no trays rubbish still on the floor fr om previous flight. Informed that they where waiting for air traffic control to confirm take off slot. So it actually hadnt got a take slot in 1st place?????? No air con neither as auxillary engine not workin but this would be workin once takin off. Not to mention men in high viz vests constantly in and out cockpit we eventually took off at 1.30. Lovely hotel and holiday!!!!! Return journey checked in at 3pm for 5pm flight. At 3.10 i spoke to reps from Olympic holidays who informed me there was already a delay of 1hr due to prob at bham, glad i asked as it was not displayed on departures board. Asked rep if we will be flyin on the same plane to be informed yes we wh ere. I then told him about the outbound journey his reply "well its only cosmetic and its an airworthy plane (he actually admitted he had not even been on a slywings plane himself). Such a tin pot air craft. Olympic you seem to have chosen price over quality with out passing your saving on to holiday clients!!!! My ? to Olympic...... I have a 1980 skoda for sale its a great road worthy car all though it has ripped seats a radio cassette and a steering wheel (These are only cosmetic features and does not hinder the performance of the vehicle) please let me know how much you are willing to spend so i can hopefully make a quick few pounds and you seem to have done be using Skywings as your aircraft carrier!!!!!!!!
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Had weeks holiday to Greece seems that skywings are an airline that can not keep to their schedules 5 HR delay going 2 HR delay returning!!!!
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I flew with them back in July to Crete from Belfast I too found my flight to be ok ,I got what I paid for .Cant help thinking no one puts pen to paper when they are pleased with somethingjust when they are complaining so its a bit one sided on here.
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FLEW OUT TO RHODES ON THE 13th August CAME BACK TODAY THE 21st yes there was delays both ways but the crew where great so polite and I am a first time flyer I did not feel worried at all yes the plane is tired and worn inside but not once did i feel unsafe
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I travelled back from Corfu yesterday ,it was either a new AIRCRAFT!! or the cabin had been tidied up couldnt fault it ..
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I hope you have a good holiday and i think it is the best Ј150 that you could spend not to fly with skywings my sons have travelled to zante with them they should have flown with monarch but were changed to fly with skywings they were pleased when they found out because the fllight times were much better,however that was short lived,they couldnt believe the state of the plane and they had a delay on the way out and a 6hr delay on the way back.They said they were given no info from anyone,they would never fly with skywings or book an olympic holiday ever again,i hope you have a good holiday,let us know when you get back you have made the best decision
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Me and my husband booked our holiday through the Thomas Cook website and then found out it was with Olympic Holidays, and flying to Rhodes with Skywings. I had never heard of Skywings, so quickly took a look at the reviews and was horrified! I'm a nervous flyer, so no way could I get on one of their planes. I quickly contacted Thomas Cook who were very helpful and they managed to get in touch with Olympic who said that we could cancel the holiday for a Ј150 fee! This I quickly accepted and although stressful at the time we have now rebooked with Jet2 (different hotel, but still Rhodes). I feel that we were very lucky that Olympic agreed we could cancel as they had already taken full payment from the credit card. My advice to anyone reading this and worrying about flying with Skywings is please try to cancel via Thomas Cook, they couldn't do enough for us. I just hope Jet2 are ok, their reviews are better than Skywings of course, but that's not difficult!!
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We came back from Corfu last week on skywings flight 5014 and I have never been on a flight like it. I could repeat all of the awful comments below and more, it was shocking. I will never ever fly with skywings ever again and I will make sure that everyone I know is aware of how terrible they are too. The atmosphere on the flight home was so tense, everyone was terrified that we wouldn't get home in one piece, the plane was in a horrendous state and the 5 hour delay didn't help either, oh and the refuelling stop in Milan on the way back too. The cabin crew were moody, the cock pit was open for most of the flight, the seats were all ripped and damaged, dirty tissues in the backs of the seats, overhead spotlights ripped out, arm rests broken, seats that fly backwards everytime you move, no leg room... The list goes on. Seriously avoid skywings!
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May I suggest that we all E mail Simon Calder (TV holiday consultant) on our problems/experiences as I think he is building up a case on this for TV? simoncalder@hotmail.com
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Skywings Arr GS4012 from Zakinthos Thur 18/08 19.30 now expected Fri 19/08 21.20 That is why the return outward flight GSW 4011 from B'ham is delayed yet again (mechanical problems?)
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How can these people Skywings, Olympic and Thomas Cook get away with this in this day and age? Our kids have now been in Birmingham airport for 24 hours and still no solution! No one answering phones either. As for the excuses, redirected plane from Lisbon, the refueling "man" had gone home so they cannot refuel a plane in a 24 hr airport, crew ran out of flying time .... so returned to Lisbon? AND, because we're English, will anyone in the UK give a monkeys about it? I doubt it.
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Yes I agree ,the aircraft was an Airbus 320 the seats werent up to much but the C.A.A or a British company who handle the engineering arent going to allow it to fly unless its safe.I travelled in July and we had short delays each way but I always expect that with charter flights.I found the English crew very jolly they all seemed to be having fun ,it seems a shame they are all getting such bad press.My advice is book the front row with the extra legroom .Have a nice holiday.
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For the person who is flying out on the 11/09/11, it isnt as bad as most people are making out, i came back with them last week, they do have delays, i was delayed 1 hour on the way out and 45 mins on the way back, the seats on the plane are old and not alot of leg room but all in all it was a ok flight, ive had better flights!! i had english and greek cabin crew on my flight all very nice and friendly, i do feel for you as its your first time going abroard, and you must be so worried reading all of this on here, but my holiday and flight was fine and i hope yours is to.
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another long delay GSW 4012 supposed to arrive at 19.30 today 18/08/2011 now due in at 09.00 tommorow 19/08/2011 my son is on this flight hes having a nightmare,he tried to change his flight after reading the reviews but he couldnt and thought that they couldnt be as bad as everone was saying how wrong was he,they are not able to find anything out there an he is very upset with the situation. All i can do is keep checking the Birmingham airport site.i have tried phoning but they dont answer Iwould not fly with skywings,he booked it at going places and they never warned him about this company
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i fly on the 11/09/2011 at 11.55pm from birmingham, this wasnt a chaep holiday and now im really worried that its going to be ruined!! its my first time going abroad and all the reviews ive read on trip advisor are extreamly firghtening and off putting, i cant afford to change airline and just have to go with it, please is it really that bad??
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we fly out to cyprus on sunday 11 september will anybody listen to the criticism about the unblevable bad airline
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From the CAA Thank you for your email. Please be assured that the UK CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) takes its safety obligations very seriously. You outline concerns about the maintenance/safety of this airline. I can assure you that commercial aircraft and airlines operating in Europe are subject to continuous airworthiness oversight, including a full survey once yearly. The aircraft survey is intended to establish the condition and conformity of the particular aircraft and confirm there are no inconsistencies between the aircraft and the documented review of the records and that there are no evident defects that have not been addressed. It will sample various structures/systems and installations together with the associated technical records. An aircraft that does not comply would not be issued with a Airworthiness Review Certificate, and an aircraft cannot fly without this document on board. Although this is a Greek registered aircraft and does not come under our regulatory control, foreign aircraft transiting into the UK can be subject to random checks by the CAA, at the request of the DfT (Department for Transport). We always notify the DfT of any passenger complaints concerning the safety of foreign aircraft. The SAFA team (Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft) from the DfT are aware of Skywings and are ramp checking this aircraft on a weekly basis since passengers expressed concerns. I have attached a link to our Aircraft Survey page for your information, which has a link to more information about SAFA. www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=1204&pa... As I mentioned earlier Skywings are a Greek airline and as such are regulated by the Greek Aviation Authority. Please see their contact details below. Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority Air Transport and International Affairs Div Air Transport Economics Section D1/D P.O.B. 73751 EL - 16604 HELLINIKO Tel. : +30 210 891.6150 Fax : +30 210 891.6193 +30 210 894 7132 d1d@hcaa.gr
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I've just received this letter from the D f T Amanda Turner International Aviation Safety & Environment Division Department for Transport Great Minster House 76 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DR Our Ref: 12969 Your Ref: 18 August 2011 gpurnell@firstinservice.co.uk Dear Gerald Purnell, Concerns about Sky Wings (Olympic Holidays) Thank you for your email dated 17 August regarding your concerns about the Greek operator Skywings. As you may be aware international civil aviation is governed by the Chicago Convention. Under the convention the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) sets Standards and Recommended Practices for the conduct of international civil aviation. Each contracting State is required to ensure that the aircraft it operates internationally meet these standards. Within the EU the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is now responsible for setting common safety standards for EU airlines. The Agency also conducts standardisation audits of Member States to ensure that those standards are being correctly implemented. In addition to this European states conduct ramp inspections under the Safety Assessment Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) programme. Under this programme each participating State inspects foreign aircraft using a common procedure. If an inspection identifies significant irregularities, these will be taken up with the airline and the oversight authority. Any deficiencies can be highlighted and appropriate actions can be taken. The results of these inspections are stored on a central database managed by EASA and EASA regularly reviews the database and will initiate action if it is concerned that an airline might not be meeting the required safety standards. The UK is currently reviewing this operator and we are analysing the results to establish if any safety breaches are occurring. I hope this reassures you that appropriate measures are in place to ensure the safety of airlines operating to the UK Yours sincerely Amanda Turner
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my sister was flying to Kos should have gone at 20.30 last night from birmingham last night it eventually left at 07.35 this morning she tried to change her flight without any luck,she was so fed up they were given no info they were * i dont think she will be flying with them again and shes not looking forward to the journey home.my comment is trying to be helpfull im not trying to spoil peoples holiday but i think you should be aware of how bad and unreliable this company is
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I think people who are commenting on here time after time who has already been on skywings should get a life... you have been on holiday, there is more things going on in this world ie war ect, ive only come on here cause im flying with skywings next week, but when or if!! i get back, i will not been coming on here again!! get over it!!!
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Why worry about spelling mistakes when we are risking our lives by flying on this pile of * of a plane!!!!!!!. It soulds to me like they only have one of these * in the air and not 15 of them like they claim to have. This is one step up from being strapped to the wings on the Flight of the Phoenix !!. I must remember to take plenty of water on board with me in case we crash land in some desert somewhere.
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Unfortunately some hotels/apps are only avail via Olympic Holidays,yes you can book accom only, and get your own flights but from Birmingham to Corfu they average Ј350.00 ea. So does not make for a reasonable cost for family of four? In the "old" days (single) I went FO Ј150 and stayed with greek friends or rooms in the village. But now we are four and I like the area! been going 25+ years and have may Corfiot friends.
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I've E mailed both the CAA and D of T comments below and those from TripAdvisor who "closed" this blog. It'll take some time for them to respond even if they do? Anyway just as long as I get to Corfu, they can have a delay on the way back!!
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Guest, good luck for the 22nd Aug, sounds like you'll need it!. Hopefully we will survive the flight and land safely to tell of our experiences when the time comes. You never know, Olympic might get fed up of all of the complaints etc and dump Skywings before they go out of business (pigs will fly)!!. Hope you make it!!!.
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I thank Carly James and all of the other guests for informing us of their experiences with Sky Wings. I am due to fly out on the 1st October (my birthday) and i will know what to expect, starting with the lengthy delay's etc. Luckily there is a bar at Birmingham airport to pass my time away in while they replace yet more faulty spare parts on the plane. I now know that i need to strap up our suitcases very tightly, eat before we are called on board the (bag of nails) aircraft and have alcohol to celebrate my birthday and to calm my nerves for the dangerous ride ahead and not forgetting my sense of humour!.
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Guest who reccommended a dictionary, check your punctuation and grammar before you post stupid comments.
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16 hour delay what a bunch of cowboys olympic you will regret ever using them WILL NEVER BOOK ANOTHER HOLIDAY WITH THEM pay the extra and fly with a proper airline.More of the same technical problems scrap this plane and use it for part s mind you i dont think theres another plane as old as this one stilll flying
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leave carly james alone you havent flown with skywings otherwise you would not put such a stupid remark if you had.The experience is not for the faint hearted.I have every sympathy with her and everyone who has flown with them
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Yes my suitcase was broken smashed to smithereens after a particularly dangerous landing it must have been thrown all around the hold on its own it had lost both wheels ,a handle and its labels .Some might say it was my own fault for buying a cheap cloth case to get the most from my meagre 20kgs of luggage(you dont get that on scheduled to Greece but that costs 1300 euros!!) .Of course it wouldnt have been the over zealious baggage handlers in Greece, yes it was that dangerously old Skywings aircraft the menace.
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4 hour delay to destination and 16 hour delay back! Ramshackle airplanes with unprofessional staff. Door to cockpit left open lots of times, no safety information in the seats, not all seats have trays, and some 'self-recline' during turbulance (which happened lots!). Broken suitcase due to dangerously bad landing, but they don't want to know about it! Would love to know how anyone can get breakfast at Paphos airport with Ђ3.50 voucher - I had to add to it to get a coffee!! Should not be in the skys, a danger to passengers and innocent people under flightpaths! Only scored 1 as there wasn't a 0 option!
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Here is the history of the SKYWINGS A320 Airbus they use from Birmingham airport. Pls note that it was stored from 2002 - 2009 and was owned by Air India at the time, a company which has one of the worst crash records!!!!!!!!! www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-a320-37...
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Why thomas cook are you letting people fly with these cowboys,on my flight we were delayed for seven hours families with small children were in dispair no information,it cost us a fortune at the airport there were no reps in resort the reps lied to on our coach to the airport the rep told us there were no delays (he knew there was but the didnt tell us because he didnt want any hassle)we were treated disgracefully never again,were still waiting for a reply
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After my experience with skywings i went into the thomas cook that i had booked my holiday with and they hadnt got a clue about how bad skywings were and whats more they didnt even care they looked at me as if i was mad i asked them to contact olympic but they said i had to put in writing to them and they would pass it onto there customers service,i asked them to look at the reviews but they said people make things up and that they couldnt always believe them.Instead of fancy company trips why dont they have the pleasure of one of skywings flights and im sure you wouldnt sell another holiday that flys with skywings even if they may be cheaper i couldnt if i worked for thomas cook,it would be a good idea for all of you employes to fly with skywings but maybe thomas cook value there staff better then there customers
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Can i just say i work for thomascook i am completely shocked and disgusted by Skywings but we dont sell olympic holidays to customers to make PROFITS ! theres no money to be made its simply because the package holidays are so cheap compared to t.cook holidays for self catering to greece and i explain to my customers about skywings but they still book as they just simply want the cheapest deal !
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Just checked airwings arrivals and departures from birmingham airport 5 hours delay on incoming flight delayed departure on next skywings flight WHAT A SUPRISE MORE TECHNICAL FAULTS WAKE UP BIRMINGHAM AIRPORT BAN THEM FOR EVERYONES SAFETY SHAME ON YOU WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE LISTEN
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Never again will we step foot on an aeroplane if it has the slightest connection to the company SkyWings. Our holiday began with a 8 hour+ delay from Birmingham to Skiathos, in which time the airline made no attempt of informing us of what was causing the delay. We were fobbed off every couple of hours with announcements that there would be more information in the next couple of hours- there never was. When we were finally allowed to board a flight (which was on a Finnish air craft, NOT SKYWINGS PLANE) we were then told we wouldnt be taking off for another hour and a half!!! Tempers were flying by this point as you can imagine!!! Our return flight was eqaully as stressful and unnerving for other reasons. Again we were 30minutes+ late boarding, but never was this acknowledged by the airline nor did they feel the delay was substansial enough to even inform the passengers!!!!(I suppose compared to the previous delay, it was a relief!) The SkyWings aircraft itself was an embarrassment. Having myself travelled around the world on numerous cheap, budget flights, never had i seen such an appaling sight as this. It was like an old, tatty coach from 30years ago. Ripped, 70's decor seats, ripped out tray tables, no space whatsoever!!! I barely noticed the presence of the cabin crew. Our confidence with this airline was already at an all time low, and with the unnusual sounds coming from the aircraft and the worrying looks passengers exchanged with one another, i honestly feared we wouldnt make it off the ground. A routine stop to refuel, we were told would take 25minutes took nearer to an hour. Once in the air again the pilot announced, to the amusment of his passengers- "We are just 35minutes behind schedule, thats quite good for SkyWings." As it happened we landed an hour late, but i was just thankful to be alive. DO NOT FLY WITH THIS AIRLINE IF YOU WANT A RELAXING, SAFE, FLYING EXPERIENCE- BECAUSE I GUARENTEE YOU WILL NOT GET IT!
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We have recently returned from Skiathos with Olympic Holidays. We had a fantastic holiday as the accommodation was excellent. However, the same cannot be said of the airlines used by Olympic. Skywings are antiquated planes which are not fit to fly. There were problems with our departure from Birmingham Airport as the CAA initially refused to sign it off. It was eventually signed off, however, it did leave us feeling uneasy. On our return, we experienced a delay of 7 hours+ as the same aircraft was deemed unfit to fly and a Finnish airlines had to be chartered instead. Olympic take note - please do not use these dodgy aircraft!
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thomas cook and going places how can you still be selling holidays with olympic,you know skywings are not safe to fly with but you dont care about your customers just you profits,does there have to be a disaster before the department of transport or the CAA will do anything DONT FLY WITH THEM
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I have contacted the CAA, Olympic holidays and watchdog about the appaling conditions of skywings. Never in my life have I experienced anything like this. I hope they throw the book at them and we all receive compensation for damages they have caused.
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Absolutely disgusting! You are the worst airline in the whole of the world. You have cost our family our holiday this year. We are absolutely distraugt and disgusted that you expected us to fly on an aircraft that was totally sub-standard with no tray tables, no water onboard, seatbelts that couldn't be fastened, overhead lockers that couldn't be closed, a cockpit cabin that was left open and so much more. We paid good money and you have totally ruined our first holiday in over 2 years. Everyone we know will hear about your shoddy aircraft and hopefully you will soon be out of business. Absolute disgrace.
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Ahh i am absolutely dreading flying with skywings now in september, if i wanted to change flights would i have to pay for new ones altogether?
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I would love to know the service history of the one they use (A320) from B'ham to Corfu and back? Could be interesting reading!
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Hi I don't know the DFT contact details either. Maybe someone might know and put the details on this forum. MAYBE WE CAN THEN ALL EMAIL THEM OUR CONCERNS
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So why can't someone contact the DfT as I don't know their address! and get them to do a spot check at B'ham
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