Aegean Airlines, Greece’s largest air carrier, has announced that it plans to add 18 new routes and 11 new destinations to its network in 2018. The 11 new destinations to be added from Athens are Turin, Palermo, Bologna and Lamezia Terme in Italy, Malaga in Spain, Basel in Switzerland, Zagreb and Zadar in Croatia, Vilnius in Lithuania, Cluj-Napoca in Romania and Skopje in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). The additional new routes are between Corfu and Moscow, Santorini and Tel Aviv, Mykonos and Tel Aviv, Mykonos and Beirut, Rhodes and Lyon, Rhodes and Beirut, and Heraklion and Beirut. Aegean has also moved forward on upgrading its Passenger Lounges in Thessaloniki and Larnaca, and will complete the upgraded of its Passenger Lounge at the Athens International Airport. A second new Athens Lounge will also be completed by early 2018 for flights heading outside of the Schengen area. The Schengen Area is comprised of 26 Europe states that have officially abolished passport and all other types of border control. The area mostly functions as a single country for international travel purposes using a common visa policy.
Aegean Airlines currently operates a fleet of 46 Airbus A320 narrow body aircraft. The airline is also evaluating the purchase of newer, second generation aircraft. The airline is looking at both the Airbus A320-NEO and Boeing 737-MAX to renew its fleet of 60 aircraft. Most of its current aircraft leases will expire between 2019 and 2023. Vice Chairman Eftyhis Vassilakis recently stated that “We will need to make a long-term $2.5-$3.0 billion investment decision in the coming months.” The airline is a member of the Star Alliance airline group. The airlines passenger traffic is expected to grow to 13 million this year. That is up from 8.8 million in 2013, when Aegean acquired state-run Olympic Airlines. The airline expects to carry as many as 15 million passengers a year by 2023.
Aegean Airlines began operations as Aegean Aviation in 1987. In the beginning, it operated as a VIP business class operation specialising in executive and air ambulance services. The airline was acquired in 1994 by the Vasilakis Group, and soon began operating VIP flights from Athens using a fleet of Learjet aircraft. The Aegean Airlines name was adopted when the company started scheduled passenger services in May of 1999.
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