AEGEAN Carries Record Number of Passengers in 2019

AEGEAN set a new passenger traffic record in 2019, reaching the 15 million passenger threshold, recording a 7 percent increase in total passenger traffic for 2019, the Greek airline company announced on Thursday.

Underlining that the number is a significant achievement marking its 20 years of operation, the company said that its airlines’ AEGEAN and Olympic Air carried 14.99 million passengers in 2019, nearly 1 million more than the previous year, offering 17.85 million seats in total.

According to AEGEAN, the increase resulted from the repeatedly enhanced investment in its international network, which continues to be the main driver of its growth with 8.7 million passengers, an equivalent to an 11 percent increase. Growth was driven both from its Athens hub (+11 percent) as well as from the regional bases of Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Chania, Rhodes and Kalamata (+8 percent).

“We achieved an 11 percent growth in international traffic and a 7 percent overall for 2019 by expanding our capacity mainly at the beginning and end of the traditional tourist season,” said AEGEAN CEO Dimitris Gerogiannis.

The company added that its domestic traffic also reported a marginal increase of 3 percent, despite the increased passenger VAT, which remains for four consecutive years (2016-2019) at 24 percent.

Load factor rate improved by almost 1 percentage point (pp), from 83.9 percent in 2018 to 84.8 percent in 2019.

“We will continue to invest in expanding the touristm season and by offering enhanced quality services for our customers as this is at quest for achieving both sustainable development and growth for the company, tourism industry and the country,” AEGEAN said.