Aegean Airlines, passenger traffic grows by 30% in July-August, 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.