AEGEAN: 70% Growth in Summer Passenger Traffic vs 2020

AEGEAN during the summer months of July and August saw its passenger traffic increase by 70 percent, compared to the same period in 2020, to more than 2.3 million passengers, the Greek airline company said on Thursday.

According to a company announcement, in July and August AEGEAN offered a total of 3.2 million seats.

“Through our network and operations, following the removal of travel restrictions and the implementation of the Digital COVID Certificate across the EU, we have contributed the recovery of tourism in Greece,” AEGEAN CEO Dimitris Gerogiannis said.

AEGEAN carried more that 1.2 million passengers through its international network (up by 108 percent vs 2020) and more than 1 million passengers in its domestic network (up by 39 percent vs 2020). During July and August, the passengers the airline carried exceeded the total numbers in the previous six months since the beginning of the year.

Moreover, the year-on-year load factor showed improvement and currently totals to 71,7 percent. However, according to AEGEAN, the specific index in the respective 2019 period remains behind reaching 87.2 percent as the international market in terms of flights offered to Greece recovered at a greater level than the increase in passenger demand.

“The persistence of the pandemic alongside the remaining restrictions on major markets such as Russia, Israel and the UK, had an impact on the load factor,” Gerogiannis said.

It should be mentioned that significant increase both in passenger traffic and load factors were recorded on operations to and from Thessaloniki, Heraklion as well as AEGEAN’s new base in Corfu.

“Greece is one of the destinations that, compared to other countries, won the bet of recovery… Truth is we have crossed the turning point in passenger traffic recovery, but we certainly still have significant difficulties and uncertainties to face,” AEGEAN CEO said.

Gerogiannis added that AEGEAN’s investments continue as planned and the company remains cautiously optimistic for the “gradual return to the new normality”.