AEGEAN carried 3 million passengers during July - August 2015. 30% increase in the international network!

Kifissia, 09 September 2015

AEGEAN's international passenger traffic in July-August 2015 marked a 30% increase over the corresponding period of 2014. Overall, in two months, the company carried 3 million passengers on its domestic and international flights. AEGEAN’s significant expansion to new destinations, as well as targeted offers - mainly in the domestic network, where the closure of banks and the country's capital controls led to a decrease in demand - contributed to achieving high growth rates.

 Specifically, in July-August 2015, the company carried 2,990,852 passengers, 515 thousand more than in the corresponding period of 2014, recording a 21% increase in overall traffic.
The 30% increase in international traffic mainly originated from the intensive growth of 35% recorded in Athens, where the company's international network traffic was twice of the airport’s as a whole, thus strengthening the operation of its primary hub. AEGEAN’s launch of 16 new destinations in 2015, including Oslo, Helsinki, Malta, Dubrovnik, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Alexandria, Riyadh and Tehran, as well as its growing presence in destinations launched in 2014, such as Cairo, Beirut, Zurich and Amman, contributed significantly to this increase.

However, the successful performance of the new direct international flights from the bases of Heraklion and Rhodes were equally important for the company's strategy, allowing its significant growth, gaining shares in these two key tourist areas, which unfortunately showed a marginal decline in their total airline traffic this year. Specifically, AEGEAN achieved a 31% increase in international flights from Heraklion and 32% respectively from Rhodes, despite a marginal decline in total demand. 

TOTAL TRAFFIC IN AEGEAN'S NETWORK FOR JULY - AUGUST 2015

Mr. Eftichios Vassilakis, AEGEAN's Vice-Chairman, commented:

“Once again, AEGEAN and Olympic Air successfully responded to challenges. Despite the difficult conditions in the country following the capital controls, we managed to significantly develop our main bases, opening up new markets for Greek tourism and new destinations in established markets. AEGEAN, operating from 100 international destinations and 9 bases, contributes significantly to the resilience and the more comprehensive geographical penetration of our “heavy” domestic industry.

At the same time however, after many delays and postponements, the need is now imperative for initiatives to be directly taken to improve air navigation’s support infrastructures, such as those of regional airports, to develop a policy for seasonal charge reductions for winter - which is now extremely weak - and to extend the contract of the Athens International Airport, which will allow it to have more competitive charges, to finally be completed as soon as possible. Without these urgent measures, AEGEAN, Olympic Air and the more than 100 companies operating in the country will not be able to continue to grow, in order to support tourism and the economy”.