Aegean: winter schedule, new destinations, network expansion

Greek airline Aegean is offering its passengers new travel options by expanding its network of destinations in the Middle East and Balkans, North Africa and Europe.

The new winter schedule for 2023-2024 involves an increase in flight frequency and expansion of destinations. Deputy Commercial Director for Pricing Policy and Network of the company Pepi Stamatis said at a press briefing, quotes CNN Greece:

“This is the largest winter schedule we have ever had, with 118 destinations, 157 routes in 44 countries. It is up about 15% from last year and well above 2019, offering about 1/3 of the total annual places. It has more than 800,000 seats and 18 brand new destinations. We are expanding opportunities for Greek and foreign passengers. In essence, there are more options, flights, destinations and for a longer period of time due to the mitigation of seasonality: 9 new routes, 7 summer routes moving into winter, 3 new countries.”

She noted that this allows travelers to explore new destinations from Athens, such as Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Luxor and Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, Innsbruck (Austria), Bratislava (Slovakia), Baku (Azerbaijan), Chisinau (Moldova) ), and also, for the first time, fly to Cairo from Thessaloniki. Athens-Dubai flights begin on November 11 and are scheduled every day except Thursday.

Supporting the expansion of the tourist season, the company offers for the first time in winter routes from Athens to Bristol and Birmingham, Malaga, Bilbao, Tallinn, Riga, Tunisia, as well as to Barcelona from Thessaloniki. The frequency of flights to “established” destinations is increasing, and a second daily flight is being added from Athens to Frankfurt.

The publication notes that Aegean is developing its efforts to “tourism all year round”, maintaining regular flights to Rhodes, Heraklion, Kalamata and back until November, starting the new season at the beginning of March 2024, as well as operating charter flights. From Rhodes, as part of a special program in cooperation with a foreign tour operator, provides 35,000 places to 22 European destinations in 8 countries, from October to December 2023 and from February to May 2024. Ms. Stamati says:

“We continue to invest in the main hub of Athens and the base in Thessaloniki, increasing frequency and capacity on traditional routes where there is demand, and also expanding our presence in the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans, trying to reduce seasonality and increase the number of available seats for abroad.”

From January to September 2023, Aegean carried more than 11.9 million passengers, of which 7.1 million were on international flights, an increase of 30% compared to the first 9 months of 2022. During the third quarter, 5.3 million passengers were transported with balanced growth: domestic passenger traffic by 17% and international passenger traffic by 18%.

Over the first 9 months of this year, passenger traffic in the AEGEAN international network to/from Eleftherios Venizelos Airport in Athens increased by 38%; during the same period, international passenger traffic at Athens Airport also increased. The figure for Macedonia Airport in Thessaloniki increased by 45% compared to last year.

Source link