Aviation

Etihad Airways, the national airline of United Arab Emirates, recently announced the start of direct flights from Athens to Abu Dhabi as of 2 June.

Minister of transport and communications, Evripidis Stylianidis, and minister for employment and social protection, Fani Palli-Petralia, recently announced measures to support the tourism sector.

Marfin Investment Group sealed a deal with the Greek government and will buy Olympic Airlines now that the European Commission gave the green light for the sale and a joint ministerial privatization committee approved the deal.

The Ministry of Mercantile Marine, The Aegean and Island Policy recently granted permission for the operation of waterways for seaplane flights in Magnesia.

New private airline Athens Airways announced recently that it intends to raise the bar of Greek air service quality and aims for a five to 12 percent share of the domestic passenger traffic.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced its forecast for 2009. It expects an industry loss of 2.5 billion dollars. All regions, except the U.S., are expected to report larger losses in 2009 than in 2008.

The Civil Aviation Authority saw an 18 percent increase in traveler complaints in 2008 against airlines that violated EU rules on passenger rights.

The EU’s Court of Justice recently ruled that airlines must compensate passengers if they cancel a flight for technical reasons, unless the blame is due to “extraordinary” events.

British Airways recently celebrated its 75th year in the Greek airline industry with the Athens-London flight, and the connection of Thessaloniki in 2005 to the British capital.

Aegean Airlines recently signed a commercial cooperation agreement with Brussels Airlines that includes the operation of the route Brussels-Athens.