Volotea: New Routes from Athens to Naples, Brest and Split in 2024

Volotea, the airline connecting small and mid-sized European cities, has announced plans to add three new routes from Athens International Airport (AIA) in 2024 and also increase its capacity to the city compared to 2023.

Speaking during a press conference in Athens on Tuesday, Volotea International Market Director for Greece Valeria Rebasti said the company next year is set to offer a capacity of over 835,000 seats, reflecting a 23 percent growth from 2023 and a 142 percent increase compared to 2018, when it first opened the Greek base. The airline will also add three new routes from Athens Airport to Naples, Split and Brest.

“With a historic capacity offer of over 835,000 seats and the introduction of three new routes, we are positioned for further growth, solidifying our presence and impact in the region,” Rebasti said.

In 2024, Volotea will expand its offering to include 20 routes departing from Athens Airport, connecting the city and travelers to five European countries. The airline will continue to provide direct access to popular destinations like Bilbao, Bordeaux, Bari, Cagliari, Dubrovnik, Heraklion, Mykonos, Santorini, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Palermo, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Venice, and Verona while adding the three new routes to further enhance connectivity.

Direct link from Athens to Naples, Brest and Split

The new routes will link Athens Airport with Naples, where it will offer more than 23,600 seats on 132 flights, with two weekly frequencies, on Thursdays and Sundays; Split, with an offer of approximately 12,850 seats on 148 flights, with two weekly frequencies, on Wednesday and Sundays; and Brest, making available over 20,000 seats on more than 100 flights, with two weekly frequencies, on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

AIA Director of Communications & Marketing Ioanna Papadopoulou referred to Volotea as a “valuable partner” for the airport since 2015, when it first started its routes to/from the Greek city.

“Additionally, the launch of the base in Athens five years ago has been a significant ‘success story’, continuing to produce excellent results for the airline, our airport, our city, and of course our passengers,” Papadopoulou said.

AIA Director of Communications & Marketing Ioanna Papadopoulou with Valeria Rebasti, International Market Director Italy, Greece, Germany & Southeastern Europe of Volotea.

This August, Volotea reached the 2 million passenger mark since starting operations at AIA in 2015. From January to October this year, Volotea has operated over 4,200 flights from Athens, a 32% increase compared to the same period in the previous year. During the ten-month period, Volotea transported some 600,000 passengers to and from Athens, marking a 20% increase compared to the previous year and an impressive 99% growth compared to 2018, when the company first established its Greek base.

Network of 13 Greek airports

Volotea currently operates across a network of 13 Greek airports, encompassing Athens, Cefalonia, Corfu, Heraklion/Crete, Kalamata, Karpathos, Mykonos, Preveza/Lefkada, Rhodes, Santorini, Skiathos, Thessaloniki, and Zakynthos.

In 2023, the company introduced eight new routes connecting key Greek airports to domestic and international destinations, such as Athens to Toulouse and Cagliari, Santorini to Bilbao and Palermo, Heraklion to Bordeaux, Rhodes to Nantes, Kalamata to Nantes, and Karpathos to Naples. From January to October 2023, the airline facilitated travel for over 1.2 million passengers to and from the country, with 47% of this passenger volume linked to Athens Airport.

Five new routes from Greek destinations in 2024

In 2024, the company plans to offer over 1.6 million seats in the country, a 13% increase compared to 2023, and introduce, on top of the new Athens routes, five new routes from Greek destinations, connecting Corfu, Kalamata, and Rhodes to Lille, as well as Kalamata and Rhodes to Lyon.

Volotea has a codeshare partnership with AEGEAN. Established in 2021, the collaboration between the two airlines expanded significantly this year, with the number of codeshare flights expanding to 95.