Three Airlines, Two Operators Handling Bulk of Tourists to Greece

Two tour operators and three airlines are handling the bulk of travelers interested in visiting Greece this summer, according to the Hellenic Slot Coordination Authority (HSCA).

More specifically, according to the HSCA, five airlines, namely Aegean/Olympic Air, Ryanair, easyJet, Smart Wings and Transavia, and four tour operators – TUI, Thomas Cook, Jet2.com and Mouzenidis – control more than half, or 10.5 million spots, out of a total of 20.1 million spots planned for this summer. HSCA data is collected at 23 Greek airports excluding Athens International Airport.

According to the same data, overall tourist traffic appears to be in the hands of just five “players” accounting for almost nine out of the 20 million planned spots: Aegean/Olympic Air, Ryanair and easyJet with 5 million spots, and tour operators TUI and Thomas Cook  representing 3.4 million spots.

Aegean Airlines is in the lead with 3.3 million planned spots. Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair meanwhile is the champion serving the majority of international flights to 23 Greek airports (excluding Athens) for the summer, with 1.4 million planned spots.

At the same time, TUI Group has booked 1.8 million spots this summer through its own carriers: Thomson Fly, TUI fly and JetAirFly. Thomas Cook, follows holding 1.5 million spots via its airlines Thomas Cook and Condor.

Greek tour operator Mouzenidis through its carrier Ellinair has scheduled half a million spots for its mostly Russian clientele.