Summary
- Aegean Airlines expands its winter schedule with 18 new routes, focusing on winter sun destinations and expanding operations in the Middle East, North Africa, the Balkans, and Europe.
- The airline introduces new connections to Innsbruck, Austria, and Egypt, as well as additional capital cities such as Baku, Bratislava, and Chisinau.
- Aegean is working to reduce its dependence on seasonal destinations by extending the length of some summer services and carrying over certain seasonal services into year-round operations. Passenger numbers are up, with a significant increase in international traffic.
The flag carrier of Greece has just released its schedule for the Winter season, and it features a flurry of new routes and extensions to existing seasonal services. Aegean Airlines will offer 18 new routes to 14 countries, above what it offered for last year’s winter schedule.
All aboard in Athens
The vast majority of its new routes depart from the carrier’s hub at Athens International Airport. There is a significant focus on winter sun destinations and expanding operations in the Middle East, North Africa, the Balkans, and Europe. Following the successful introduction of Marrakech last year, the airline is doubling down on sunshine and introducing two new links to Egypt from the Greek capital, Luxor, on the Nile River and the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula.
At the other end of winter activities, there is a new connection to the ski center of Innsbruck in Austria. Several more capital cities are also getting winter links to Athens. Azerbaijan will be linked with a new connection to Baki, alongside flights to Bratislava in Slovakia and Moldova’s Chisinau. Aegean’s Deputy Chief Commercial Officer of Network and Revenue, Mrs. P. Stamatis, explained how the airline is looking to keep busy during the quieter winter months:
“Building on the momentum of the successful growth of the last 18 months, we continue to offer our passengers new options and travel experiences, investing in the expansion of our network with new destinations in the winter season. At the same time, we continue to invest in the potential of Athens and Thessaloniki Airports, while we gradually develop special programmes and partnerships to mitigate seasonality in the region.
Photo: Dirk Daniel Mann / Shutterstock
Athens is not the only airport getting new connections. Passengers departing from the North of Greece will also have access to more winter sun with the launch of flights from Thessaloniki directly to Cairo for the first time.
Doubling up the connections
Aegean operates an all-Airbus fleet and does not have a fleet of widebodies to support intercontinental operations. It relies heavily on partner carriers to facilitate travel and has added two new flights to facilitate onward connections, Dubai, and a second daily service to Frankfurt. The German city is, of course, a base for Star Alliance partner Lufthansa. Commenting on the launch, Mrs Stamatis noted just how important these partnerships are:
“Moreover, we announce the new direct flight to and from Athens-Dubai, as well as the second daily flight to Frankfurt Airport from Athens, in order to further strengthen the connectivity of our network with international aviation hubs, under the umbrella of our important new and established partnerships.”
Photo: Gestur Gislason / Shutterstock
The flight to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is significant for the airline as it is the home of partner Emirates. The two airlines recently expanded their codeshare agreement, which includes connections from Athens across Aegens’s domestic network and a fifth-freedom Emirates flight from Athens to Newark.
The last seconds of summer
The airline is also working to reduce its dependence on seasonal destinations by extending the length of some of its summer services. Its flights to Rhodes, Heraklion in Crete, and Kalamata will now run until November and resume early in March 2024.
The airline also carries over some of its seasonal services into year-round operations. These include this year’s newly launched flight from Athens to Bristol in addition to Birmingham in the United Kingdom. From Athens, flights to Malaga, Bilbao, Tallinn, Riga, and Tunisia will all continue over the winter.
Photo: EQRoy / Shutterstock
In Thessaloniki, a new link to Barcelona that commenced during the summer will continue throughout the year.
Flying from strength to strength
The carrier has experienced a strong year already, with passenger numbers up across the board. Between January and September of this year, Aegean carried over 11.9 million passengers. Of those, 7.1 million flew on the international network, a jump of 30% compared to the same period last year. From Athens “Eleftherios Venizelos” airport, international traffic has increased by 38%, while at Thessaloniki’s “Makedonia,” numbers exceeded 45% compared to the first nine months of 2022.
The third quarter of this year has been bustling, with over 5.3 million passengers flown across Aegean’s network. Traffic is up over a quarter, with a 17% increase in domestic passenger traffic and international passenger traffic up by 18%.