{"id":6261,"date":"2021-10-14T17:00:09","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T16:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/?p=6261"},"modified":"2021-10-14T20:35:57","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T19:35:57","slug":"from-the-pampas-to-the-aegean-the-dash-8-that-served-in-southern-winds-and-olympic-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/from-the-pampas-to-the-aegean-the-dash-8-that-served-in-southern-winds-and-olympic-air\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Pampas to the Aegean: The Dash 8 that served in Southern Winds and Olympic Air"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The LV-ZPM, which would later become the SX-BIP, operating at the Buenos Aires city airport Aeroparque (photo Christian Amado).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Argentine company Southern Winds began operating in 1996, establishing a hub in the Mediterranean city of C\u00f3rdoba, from where it flew to the Argentine cities of Rosario, Mendoza, San Carlos de Bariloche, Tucum\u00e1n, Salta, etc. The initial business plan was to provide air services to large Argentine cities without going through Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n

For this, airplanes from the Canadian Bombardier were initially used: the CRJ jets and Dash 8 turboprops. The aircraft were operated in standard configuration of 50 and 37 passengers respectively. The Dash 8-100s were gradually arriving from June 1998 to April 1999.<\/p>\n

Southern Winds entered the fateful year 2001 relatively well. The airline had bases in C\u00f3rdoba and Buenos Aires, it operated a fleet of twelve modern aircraft, including the Dash 8 fleet, and its domestic services were completed with charters to South American countries.<\/p>\n

\"\"
SX-BIP, former LV-ZPM, operating in August 2021 on the Greek island of Kastellorizo, one of the most complicated airports in the world to land (photo: Fernando Puppio).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At that time, the company had a 17% market share, transported one million passengers annually, had a turnover of one hundred million dollars, had earned one million in the last year, and had a capitalization of 150 million, almost entirely from foreign banks, and was in full expansion.<\/p>\n

But two unique and complex events happened in the last part of 2001: the terrorist attacks of September 11 and the total debacle of the Argentine economy in December of that year.If the former shook the airline industry globally, the latter continued to give local aviation instability.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The LV-ZLZ, which would later become SX-BIQ at Aeroparque – SABE\/AEP (photo: Fernando Puppio).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With regard to domestic flights, the immediate problem that Southern Winds had to face was the leasing of the Bombardier planes, which after the default and the devaluation proved impossible to maintain. All six Dash 8-100 registered LV-YTA, LV-YTC, LV-ZGB, LV-ZLZ, LV-ZOD and LV-ZPM were returned.<\/p>\n

Specifically, and as the last scheduled flights were made for each aircraft, Southern Winds commercial service was terminated. The first to stop flying was the LV-ZOD in late March 2002, and it was effectively returned in August of that year. The LV-ZPM was decommissioned in June and flew to Canada in July. The casualties continued with the LV-YTA in July, which was returned within 11 days of causing loss of the flight line. In August, the LV-ZLZ and LV-ZGB were withdrawn and returned to Canada the same month. The last DHC-8 to fly with Southern Winds was LV-YTC, decommissioned in September 2002 and returned the same month.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The SX-BIQ, former LV-ZLZ, taxiing at Naxos airport in August 2010 (photo: Fernando Puppio).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Southern Winds Dash 8-100 Fleet<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
MSN<\/span><\/td>\nModel<\/span><\/td>\nRegister<\/span><\/td>\nActive from…<\/span><\/td>\nto<\/span><\/td>\nComments<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
330<\/td>\nDHC-8 102A<\/td>\nLV-ZOD<\/b><\/td>\n24\/03\/1999<\/td>\n30\/10\/2003<\/td>\nTemporary registered as LV-POD. Registered by Olympic Aviation as SX-BIO<\/b>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
347<\/td>\nDHC-8 102K<\/td>\nLV-ZPM<\/b><\/td>\n22\/09\/1999<\/td>\n22\/10\/2003<\/td>\nTemporary registered LV-PIB. Registered by Olympic Aviation as SX-BIP<\/b>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
361<\/td>\nDHC-8 102A<\/td>\nLV-ZLZ<\/b><\/td>\n10\/11\/1998<\/td>\n30\/10\/2003<\/td>\nRegistered by Olympic Aviation as SX-BIQ<\/b>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
363<\/td>\nDHC-8 102A<\/td>\nLV-YTA<\/td>\n30\/06\/1998<\/td>\n14\/01\/2005<\/td>\nRegistered by Island Air as N810WP.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
364<\/td>\nDHC-8 102<\/td>\nLV-ZGB<\/b><\/td>\n21\/08\/1998<\/td>\n28\/08\/2003<\/td>\nRegistered by Olympic Aviation as SX-BIR<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
366<\/td>\nDHC-8 102A<\/td>\nLV-YTC<\/td>\n30\/06\/1998<\/td>\n14\/01\/2005<\/td>\nRegistered by Air as N811WP.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

After being returned to Bombardier, the aircraft were stored in Canada pending re-entry into the commercial airline market. Of these, four continued to fly for the Greek company Olympic Airways. The DHC-8s that continued their operational life in Hellas would be: LV-ZGB, LV-ZLZ, LV-ZOD and LV-ZPM.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The LV-ZPM at the Mor\u00f3n airfield in April 1999, just arrived in Argentina and before entering service for Southern Winds. It still carries the temporary registration LV-PIB, it would receive the aforementioned definitive registration LV-ZPM. Later it went to Olympic Aviation as SX-BIP (photo :: F. Puppio).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Olympic Airways<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Olympic Airways was, for at least four decades, the Greek flag carrier. The livery design with the Olympic rings made her, and does, a very distinguishable representation of Greece in the skies of the eastern Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n

As of December 2003, the Olympic Airways group of companies owned Olympic Airways, Olympic Aviation<\/strong>, Macedonian Airlines, Galileo Hellas, Olympic Fuel Company, and Olympic Into-Plane Company. Olympic Catering had been sold a few months earlier. A company formed in the 1980s called Olympic AirTours (Olympiaki Touristiki) had already been transformed into Macedonian Airlines.<\/p>\n

In that year, the Dash 8 ex Southern Winds arrived for the Olympic Aviation division and the Greek government also restructured the company. It should be noted that the DHC-8 is an aircraft especially suitable for flying low-density routes between the Greek islands, especially those with rather spartan airport facilities.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The SX-BIR, formerly LV-ZGB, at the Athens airport in September 2014 (photo: Fernando Puppio).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On March 6, 2009, Hellenic Development Minister Kostis Hatzidakis announced the sale of flight operations and technical-based companies to Marfin Investment Group (MIG). Finally, on September 28, 2009, Olympic Airlines stopped flying to most of its 69 destinations, maintaining only a few connections and all mandatory public service routes within Greece, until the Ministry of Transport and Communications redistributed the routes. at the end of November. From that moment on, Olympic Airlines went into liquidation.<\/p>\n

Olympic Air<\/strong> took over operations on September 29, 2009 and its first flight was on October 1, 2009.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The LV-ZGB, later SX-BIR, taxiing at Aeroparque towards its parking position on the commercial platform (photo: Pablo Luciano Potenze).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In October 2012, Aegean Airlines announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire Olympic Air for an amount of 75 million euros, pending the approval of the European Commission. Contrary to their previous merger attempt, both carriers continued to operate under different brands and liveries after the acquisition.<\/p>\n

Olympic Air is currently 100% owned by Aegean Airlines. It mainly serves low-density domestic destinations from Athens, Thessaloniki and Rhodes. Some of these destinations are the so-called mandatory public services to maintain air connectivity between the continent and the island territory.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The SX-BIO, former LV-ZOD, landing in Naxos in September 2013 (photo: Fernando Puppio).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Last of Southern Winds<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Of the six aircraft that flew in Argentina for Southern Winds, four continued to operate in Hellas. Of these, two left in 2017 for the Kenyan Silverstone Air Services where they ended their operational life as 5Y-SMP (ex SX-BIO and LV-ZOD) and 5Y-MHB (ex SX-BIQ and LV-ZLZ). By August 2021, the other two remaining aircraft were still in operation: the SX-BIP (ex LV-ZPM) and the SX-BIR (ex LV-ZGB). They knew how to challenge the Pampero winds, they continue doing so with Meltemi…<\/p>\n

\"\"
The LV-ZOD taxiing to the 31st head of Aeroparque in November 2001 (photo: Rafael Reca).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Pablo Luciano Potenze, Rafael Reca and Christian Amado contributed to this article.<\/p>\n

\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Airflets, Aegean Airlines, Olympic Air, JetPhotos, Dash 8 World, Roll Out, and Runway 18 (multi-issue print edition).<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group of Dash 8 aircraft that arrived in Argentina in the late 1990s for Southern Wings continued their operational life in Greece flying for Olympic. In 2021, some of them are still braving the Aegean winds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":6267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[75,74],"class_list":["post-6261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transport","tag-olympic-air","tag-southern-winds"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/OA1.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1JKRl-1CZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1933,"url":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/bell-412-para-la-fuerza-area-argentina\/","url_meta":{"origin":6261,"position":0},"title":"Argentine Air Force to get two Bell 412EPs","author":"Arturo Max","date":"Monday 20 May 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"According to press releases, documents and rumours circulating the web, the Ministry of Defence purchased two Bell 412EP in February 2013. Ostensibly, they are destined to be operated by the Argentine Air Force (Fuerza A\u00e9rea Argentina, or FAA), as anticipated by Air Force Chief of Staff, general brigadier Normando Costantino,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Defence & security"","block_context":{"text":"Defence & security","link":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/category\/defence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/412-2.jpg?fit=644%2C429&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/412-2.jpg?fit=644%2C429&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/412-2.jpg?fit=644%2C429&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25,"url":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/2010-military-exercises-index-argentina\/","url_meta":{"origin":6261,"position":1},"title":"The 2010 Argentine Exercises Index","author":"Carlos Ay","date":"Thursday 15 November 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The first Argentine military aviation exercises index in the \u201cGaceta Aeron\u00e1utica Age\u201d comes packed with over 70 exercises, simulations and drills totalling at least 329 days of activity on the field. In spite of ever present budgetary limitations and a couple of congressional mishaps, Argentine armed and paramilitary forces managed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Defence & security"","block_context":{"text":"Defence & security","link":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/category\/defence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/100308-N-4774B-056.jpg?fit=651%2C384&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/100308-N-4774B-056.jpg?fit=651%2C384&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/100308-N-4774B-056.jpg?fit=651%2C384&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":22,"url":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/ar-bicentennial\/","url_meta":{"origin":6261,"position":2},"title":"Argentine Air Force aircraft to open Bicentennial parade","author":"Carlos Ay","date":"Friday 21 May 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"STOP PRESS! 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