Athens Welcomes First Direct Juneyao Air Flight from Shanghai

Juneyao Air after touching down at Athens International Airport sporting its “Colourful Petals” special livery. Photo source: AIA

Juneyao Air’s inaugural flight from Shanghai to Athens arrived at the Greek city’s airport on Tuesday, marking the start of the first direct connection between the two cities.

Operated on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the inaugural flight, HO1657, arrived at Athens International Airport (AIA) at 08:30 am local time after a 12-hour flight from Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG). The flight was greeted with a “water salute”, the highest courtesy of aviation.

“With the strong cooperation and support of all parties, the Shanghai-Athens route of Juneyao Air, which has taken four years to prepare, has been successfully launched,” Juneyao Air Chairman Wang Junjin said at the flight’s welcoming ceremony in Athens.

AIA CEO Yiannis Paraschis and Juneyao Air Chairman Wang Junjin. Photo source: AIA

The new Shanghai-Athens route of Juneyao Air will operate three times per week, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Flight HO1657 is scheduled to take off from Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 01:55 am and arrive at Athens International Airport at 08:55 am local time; the return flight HO1658 will take off at 13:45 pm local time and return to Shanghai Pudong at 05:05 am the next day.

Welcoming Juneyao Air’s first flight to Athens, AIA Director of Communications & Marketing Ioanna Papadopoulou highlighted that in such a “strategically important market” as China, Shanghai has until now recorded the highest rates of indirect passenger traffic to Athens.

“So the launch of the direct connection for the first time is one of the most important developments for the airport, our city, and country,” Papadopoulou said.

“On behalf of the Athens International Airport, I would like to express our sincere thanks to Juneyao Air for their ‘vote of trust’ in the Athens market and confirm our firm commitment to continue working closely with the airline, aiming at significantly contributing to the success of the route.”

Juneyao Air Director of Services Zhou Bin and AIA Director of Communications & Marketing Ioanna Papadopoulou. Photo source: AIA

Referring to the strong relations between China and Greece, Juneyao Air’s chairman, Wang Junjin, said the combined efforts of the leaders of the two countries have continued to push forward the strong development of bilateral relations and the construction of the ‘Belt and Road’.

“This provides a solid foundation of confidence for us to operate the Shanghai-Athens route in the long term,” Junjin said during the airline’s welcoming ceremony in Athens.

Photo source: AIA

Founded in 2006, Juneyao Air is one of the leading private-owned carriers in China and the first “Connecting Partner” of Star Alliance. The airline right now reaches nearly 200 destinations in Asia and Europe, with a modern fleet of 95 aircraft, comprising narrow-bodied Airbus A320s and wide-bodied Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.

Currently, including the Shanghai-Athens route, Juneyao Air operates a total of four intercontinental routes, connecting Shanghai and Henan with Helsinki, Milan and Athens. As of March 2024, Juneyao Air has operated more than 1,200 intercontinental flights and carried more than 220,000 passengers.