Aegean Airlines On Ryanair’s Plans To Open New Hubs In Athens, Thessaloniki

Greek carrier Aegean Airlines issued the following announcement on 14 January in regards to the plans of Irish low fares airline Ryanair to open Greek hubs in Athens and Thessaloniki:

“Today’s announcement issued by Ryanair, regarding two new operation bases in Athens and Thessaloniki, confirms the function of a fully competitive market, within the framework of the European carriers market, as it has always been indicated by our company.

This is exactly the reason for which the joining of powers between the two Greek carriers, AEGEAN and Olympic Air, was indispensable so as for economies of scale to be created allowing the effective operation and growth of a Greek carrier that will worthily represent our country to this common European market. Today, following the completion of this union, we hold the size needed for being competitive and grow more.

Moreover, it is highly positive, that our country’s stabilization and the significant strengthening of the tourist flow now render Greece attractive for the operation of foreign carriers. AEGEAN has invested long before and systemically during the last 4 years, operating 8 bases in central and regional Greece, contributing decisively to the support and growth of tourism, amidst a challenging era.

At the same time, both before and after the joining of forces with Olympic Air, the company has offered new lower fare policies, like GoLight and Flex, which were introduced in November of 2013. These initiatives significantly improved the fare cost for the Greek consumers, on both internal and small remote routes. This is the reason for the collective local passenger traffic of both companies marking an important 15% increase for the first time after a 5 year continuous decrease and recession, during the two months following the completion of the agreement. The consumers are already aware of it. We continue dynamically with the already announced new routes, being used in dealing effectively with the challenges and bringing benefits towards both our passenger and our company’s organization and product.“