Aegean Aims for the Sky, Launches 14 New Destinations from Athens

Aegean Airlines announced on Thursday, the introduction of 14 new destinations from Athens, 111 international routes to 45 countries and investments in four new Airbus A320 carriers.

During a presentation of its 2016 business plan, the Greek carrier said that its primary aim is to boost Athens as a hub by intensifying the number of direct connections to new markets, adding 14 international destinations (Dublin, Nice, Lille, Naples, Bari, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Palma de Mallorca, Ljubljana, Jeddah, Krakow, Vilnius, Split), and six new countries: Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Lithuania.

It also said that it plans to increase the number of destinations and frequencies in sector-significant markets such as France, Italy, Spain and Saudi Arabia.

In total, the company will link the Greek capital with 101 destinations – 71 foreign, 30 domestic – opening up in the meantime 12.5 million jobs, an additional 1 million compared to 2015.

“In just two years after the acquisition of Olympic Air and with the momentum we created thanks to synergies, the efforts and maturity of our outstanding team of people, we’ve ‘moved up a class’,” said Aegean Vice President Eftychios Vassilakis.

“With lower fares and expanded connectivity, we’ve managed to increase traffic to small destinations which are affected by the decline in domestic tourism… at the same time, we continue to develop new passenger services, support the Greek family, promote local products and Greek culture.”

In view of the challenges ahead, Mr Vassilakis called for closer and more effective cooperation between public and private stakeholders for the promotion of the country.

“Only through partnerships and joint efforts will we overcome the stagnation threatening tourism.”