AEGEAN Bets On Thessaloniki, Increases Flights  

Photo source: AEGEAN.

National carrier AEGEAN announced this week that it would be increasing its flights to Thessaloniki this summer investing in the city’s growing tourism dynamic.

Actions to meet the increasing demand were the focus of a special event organized by AEGEAN and attended by 50 Northern Greece and Ionian Island travel agents ahead of the summer season.

According to the carrier, the first three months of the year have set the pace for the upcoming period.

Indicatively, international passenger traffic through Thessaloniki Makedonia Airport increased by 23 percent compared to the same period in 2019 and by 107 percent over 2022.

AEGEAN Sales Manager Greece Stephanos Sadopoulos with AEGEAN Regional Sales Manager North Greece ,Ionian Islands & Balkan countries Eirini Sidiropoulou. Photo source: AEGEAN.

AEGEAN has this year invested a total of 3 million available seats in its Thessaloniki network up by 19 percent over 2019 and by 500,000 compared to 2022 with half concerning its international network.

The company this year is also adding five new destinations to Thessaloniki: Barcelona, Venice, Cologne, Tbilisi and Yerevan, which will begin in the coming weeks.

According to Stephanos Sadopoulos, sales manager Greece AEGEAN, the common goal, together with the travel market of Thessaloniki and Northern Greece, is to transport as many passengers as possible, to maintain more itineraries for the winter season and to create conditions for new connections.

Thessaloniki Airport. Photo source: Fraport Greece.

AEGEAN currently operates 35 direct routes (22 international and 13 domestic) from Thessaloniki. The company’s 22 direct international routes concern 12 countries and include Berlin, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Hanover, Nuremberg, Cologne, Rome, Milan, Venice, Paris, Barcelona, Tel Aviv, Zurich, Brussels, Larnaca, Yerevan, and Tbilisi.

AEGEAN maintained it direct routes to Rome, Milan, Berlin, Brussels and Zurich during the winter season, helping to establish Thessaloniki as a city break destination.

AEGEAN also flies domestically to: Athens, Heraklion, Chania, Rhodes, Kos, Mytilini, Chios, Paros, Mykonos, Santorini, Kalamata, Limnos, Samos, and Ikaria out of Thessaloniki.

Thessaloniki’s Makedonia Airport is the second largest AEGEAN hub in terms of passenger traffic and activity. The airline handles more than 2.5 million passengers per year.

During the event, AEGEAN Regional Sales Manager North Greece ,Ionian Islands & Balkan countries Eirini Sidiropoulou underlined that this year, the company will operate in more destinations than ever, offering Thessaloniki the largest network of direct destinations in its history.

Overall in 2023, AEGEAN will operate 76 aircraft and offer a total of 18 million seats of which 11 million are international seats, up by 2 million compared to 2022 and by 800,000 over 2019.

The Greek carrier will serve 161 destinations in 46 countries with 264 direct routes and has received three of the nine new Airbus 320/321 neo aircraft scheduled for 2023.