Aegean Airlines is planning “strengthen its capacity in its regional bases” as it seeks to restore up to 80% of its pre-COVID network in the third quarter.

The Greek flag-carrier expects to grow its regional presence alongside its main hub in Athens as conditions improve in the “volatile market,” said CEO Dimitris Gerogiannis.

Currently Aegean has 2.2 million available departure seats scheduled for the third quarter of 2021, up from 766,635 in the second quarter, data from OAG Schedules Analyser show.

Some 763,822 of the available Q3 seats will depart from Athens (ATH), ahead of Irakleion (HER) (137,599) and Thessaloniki (SKG) (124,526).

“From June 2021, following the partial lifting of the restrictions and the initiation of the touristic season, leisure traffic is showing gradual signs of recovery,” said Gerogiannis.

“However, the course of the pandemic and its containment through the expected accelerated vaccinations pace, will play a vital role in the demand trend and the results during the second half of the year.”

For the first three months of 2021 Aegean and Olympic Air reported a 78% reduction in total passengers year-on-year, down to 460,000 from 2.1 million in 2020 and 2.5 million in 2019.

Load factors (RPK/ASK) also fell by 28.5% to 47.5%, down from 76% in 2020 and 82.3% in 2019.

The airline recently signed a codeshare agreement with Volotea covering 100 city pairs, mainly in Greece, Italy, France and Spain.

Aegean’s top 10 routes (July 2021)

All data provided by OAG Schedules Analyser

Photo credit: Rob Finlayson