Aegean Boosts International Passenger Numbers

Greece’s largest airline Aegean reported strong traffic growth for April and May.

While Aegean’s domestic traffic edged up by only 2,600 passengers in the two months, international numbers rose by 15 percent to 1.16 million. Its overall passenger numbers increased 8 percent to a shade under 2.1 million.

The airline said significant momentum was achieved as the summer travel season started, with its Athens base recording the highest growth. International pax numbers at Athens International rose 19 percent to 840,454.

“The significant investment in the Athens network, which we have been implementing in recent years, in combination with the maturity of destinations and the strong demand for Greece this year, provided us with a very good start for this year’s summer season,” Aegean Managing Director Dimitrios Gerogiannis said.

Network load factor rose 8 percentage points to 79 percent in April/May.

Aegean said that despite the reduction in Public Service Obligation (PSO) routes operated by its Olympic Air unit, and increased competition in the domestic market, passenger numbers remained stable.

The European Regions Airline Association defines PSO routes as restrictions to the normal free provision of air transport services in the EU internal market. They are justified by their importance in maintaining economic and social development in remote regions on air routes that would otherwise not be economically viable.