Super Models

After 45 years, a world-class collection of mint-condition airplane replicas is opening in Panama

- Enrique Perrella

GREEK-VENEZUELAN ENTREPRENEUR, textile mogul and aviation enthusiast Stephen Koulouthros has devoted his life to collecting airplane models. Also a private pilot, he built his passion for these small-scale replicas into a world-class collection now opening to the public as the SKS Flight Museum in Panama.

As a university student pursuing calculus and advanced engineering, Koulouthros used his free time to visit the hangars of his country’s former national carrier, VIASA. There, through an internship, he was granted access to maintenance rooms and even the jump seats of planes as big as the DC-10 on journeys to Europe.

Koulouthros started his collection when his mother brought him two British Airways models—a Boeing 737-200 and 747—painted in the airline’s iconic Negus livery, followed by a 747 painted in Olympic Airways colors, gifted by his uncle. “He used to be president of the airline,” Koulouthros told Business Traveler during an exclusive preopening visit to his museum. “Since then, I knew that collecting planes would be an important part of my life, and here we are today, 3,500 models later.”

As an avid traveler, Koulouthros has been on some of the world’s most memorable trips, including Singapore Airlines’ longest flight to New York. He has visited 104 countries.

“I always booked round-the-world tickets,” he says. “On every trip, I hunted for that model I knew I was missing. My collection grew bigger, and my ambition never ceased.”