Ellinair Celebrates 5 Years of ‘Touching the Sky’

Ellinair celebrates 5 years in business, Flies over 1 million passengers in 2018

Mouzenidis Group airline Ellinair on Thursday celebrated its fifth anniversary in the aviation industry.

The Thessaloniki-based airline, which last year surpassed the one million passenger mark, started flight operations on February 19, 2014, with the launch of its Thessaloniki-Kyiv route.

Ellinair’s first aircraft were two AVRO RJ85 four-engined airliners of 96 seats each.

“The cabin crew members that flew on that flight continue their career in the company to this day,” the airline’s management said in an announcement. Later, Ellinair acquired its first two Airbus aircraft.

Today, five years later, the airline mainly operates Airbus-type airplanes, achieving aircraft homogeneity in fleet composition.

In the winter, the company operates with two A 319 and two A 320 aircraft, while during the summer season, up to five aircraft are added to the fleet, as air transport needs rise sharply due to seasonality.

This year, the company will add two A319s, two A320s and three B737s to its fleet.

2018: Over 1 million passengers, up by 32%

In 2018, the company operated 8,342 flights, offering 1,334,604 seats – up 30 percent compared to 2017 – carrying 1,043,984 passengers, a 32 percent increase compared to 2017, with a 78.2 percent occupancy rate.

Correspondingly, in 2017, the company had a 77.1 percent occupancy rate, performed 7,042 flights, offered 1,027,548 seats and carried 792,096 passengers.

“We are very pleased to see the expansion of Ellinair’s figures five years after its foundation, which significantly contributes to Greek tourism and Greece,” Mouzenidis Group President Boris Mouzenidis said.

“We promise to continue offering high quality services and ever more travel options,” he added.