Greek carrier AEGEAN saw a 12 percent increase in passenger traffic to 1.5 million on board its flights for the first two months of 2018.
More specifically, AEGEAN and Olympic Air carried 680,000 passengers on domestic flights, up by 9 percent compared to the same period in 2017. Passengers carried on international flights increased by 15 percent to 808,000.
The number of total flights operated increased by 2 percent, hence the growth in passenger traffic stemmed mainly from higher load factors, which averaged 
81 percent from 76 percent in the respective 2017 period.
“The gradual upgrade of the tourist product in Athens, the maturity on managing our fares and network as well as our investment in reinforcing and essentially building a hub in Athens with connecting flows are contributing to better coping with the seasonality of our business,” said AEGEAN CEO Dimitris Gerogiannis.
Traffic from the main base in Athens rose by 14 percent, with AEGEAN achieving a faster pace of growth compared to the overall market as the latter grew by 6.5 percent.
More specifically, AEGEAN’s international traffic from Athens grew by 19 percent, following a significant investment on maintaining many seasonal destinations in the winter period, thus contributing to the extension of the season as well as offering more direct connection choices to passengers.
AEGEAN adds new destinations to 2018 itineraries
AEGEAN has added 18 new destinations and 700,000 additional seats in its routes for 2018. “The initial indications as far as demand is concerned for the summer season appear positive, despite the increased capacity added by competition,” Dimitris Gerogiannis underlined.
Furthermore, in efforts to upgrade its products and services the Greek carrier in 2017 upgraded the facilities of its four lounges in Athens, Thessaloniki and Larnaca. “All interested parties in the tourism industry should work towards that direction, to extend the season with investments, novelty, new products as well as the right support policies,” Gerogiannis added.
Source: AEGEAN
