Aviation

The establishment of an aviation chamber and the development of Greece’s general aviation to the benefit of areas where Greek regional airports are located are two issues that must be seen to immediately, according to the common conclusion of speakers at the fifth scientific conference “Aviation–Present and Future” held recently in Athens at the Infrastructure, Transports and Networks Ministry.

From 15 April until 21 April a total of 1,177 flights to and from Greek airports were canceled due to the volcanic ash cloud from Ireland, according to Civil Aviation Authority data.

The tender procedure for the provision of ground handling services to 34 Greek regional airports has not been completed following a decision made by the Council of State, the Infrastructure, Transports and Networks Ministry said last month.

Irish low cost carrier Ryanair recently announced the launch of “guaranteed lowest fares” on six new routes to the Greek destinations of Kos, Rodos and Volos.

The merger of Olympic with Aegean will maintain competitive customer prices, protect levels of employment and increase our competitiveness at a European level, according to Olympic Air’s President Andreas Vgenopoulos.

As all predictions indicate another difficult year, Athens International Airport’s initiative to freeze all airport charges for 2010 aims to the financial support of our airline-partners, the CEO of the airport, Dr. Yiannis Paraschis said last month.

Aegean Airlines announced last month that flights to Lemnos and Kefallonia would be cut immediately after the Easter holiday as of 7 April due to commercial and financial reasons.

Greece’s two largest carriers, Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air, recently confirmed potential cooperation talks held between their major shareholders. Both companies have released no details so far.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Dimitris Reppas recently announced the cancellation of the tender for the construction and management of the new airport on Crete in the Kastelli area that was introduced by the previous government in 2009.

Complaints made last year by passengers against airline companies dropped 13 percent when compared to 2008, according to data released by the Civil Aviation Authority.