On 12 December, Aegean Airlines announced it would open a seasonal route between Thessaloniki on the Aegean Sea and Brussels Airport from 31 March 2020, together with many other routes.
The Greek carrier announced earlier on 12 December that they are going to open a new seasonal service to Brussels Airport from 31 March 2020, twice weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to be operated by Airbus A320-200.
A3 538 SKG - BRU 06:00 - 08:00 -2-----
A3 539 BRU - SKG 08:55 - 12:40 -2-----
A3 538 SKG - BRU 17:15 - 19:15 ---4---
A3 539 BRU - SKG 20:10 - 23:55 ---4---
TUI fly Belgium and Brussels Airlines already fly this route, also seasonally.
Aegean Airlines announced a new lounge at Thessaloniki, with one more added aircraft to the base, with an increase in 47 routes. Other routes announced today are from Thessaloniki to Berlin-Tegel, Barcelona, Milan-Malpensa, Rome-Fiumicino and Zürich.
Athens will also get 3 new routes, Bilbao, Birmingham and Nuremberg, and Aegean opens a base in Corfu with 1 aircraft based.
By July, the airline should get 6 A320neo family aircraft, as part of the 30 + 12 options order at Airbus.
Press release :
6 new aircraft, 1.5 million additional seats, growth throughout Greece with a total capacity of 19.2 million seats
Aiming for 2020 to mark the starting point for greater growth and extroversion, AEGEAN invests in the further expansion of its network and the overall expansion of its business activity. With a significant capacity increase to 19.2 million seats, 1.5 million additional seats compared to 2019, AEGEAN will be operating in 155 destinations with 65 aircraft, including the first 6 Airbus of A320 / 321neo family expected to join the AEGEAN fleet by the first half of the year.
AEGEAN’s 2020 growth strategy rests on three pillars:
- The expansion of its activity and presence in Thessaloniki, as well as the Corfu base, reaching 8 bases in total.
- Continuous investment and focus on Athens, as the main hub of the company
- The constant ongoing efforts for the extension of Greece’s tourism season
In this context, the company adds 11 new routes to its international network flight schedule from the bases of Athens, Thessaloniki and Corfu. AEGEAN is also adding 3 new destinations to its network directly to Birmingham, Paphos, Bilbao. Moreover, the company plans to increase capacity in another 47 international routes, adding 1.1 million seats to its annual activity and bringing the total capacity up to 11.4 million seats.
Specifically, AEGEAN has planned a plan of robust extroversion and potential growth for the city of Thessaloniki, with routes to Barcelona, Brussels, Rome, Milan, Zurich, Berlin, and an increase in international capacity by 25%. The company adds a total of 8 new destinations from Thessaloniki (6 international and 2 domestic), and invests in the upgrade of the overall passenger experience with a new 500m2 lounge.
At the same time, aiming to expand the coverage of the key tourism markets, AEGEAN is establishing a new base in Corfu, constituting its 8th base in Greece and Cyprus. In 2020, a scheduled route will be directly connecting Corfu to Paris, while 12 charter destinations will be added, offering additional 95,000 seats compared to the previous year, meeting thus, the island’s tourism demands.
Athens remains a landmark-destination for the overall performance of Greek Tourism in general, and AEGEAN in particular, but also serving as the company’s main hub for access to the country’s smaller islands. ?he significant increase in capacity of the Athens network, planned for 2020, will once again stem from frequency increase in existing routes, expanding timetables for more routes, as well as the addition of four new destinations (Bilbao, Nuremberg, Paphos, Birmingham).
Mr. Dimitris Gerogiannis, CEO of AEGEAN, stated: “2020 constitutes a new beginning for AEGEAN, as we are further investing in our network and overall activity from 8 bases in Greece and Cyprus. With 11 new routes, 1.5 million additional seats and 19.2 million seats in total, and of course with the addition of the first 6 A320neo family aircraft to our fleet, we create a new growth potential for our company. This year, along with the expansion of our Athens activity, the strengthening of Thessaloniki, and the new base in Corfu, contribute as key elements to our flight schedule. We believe that through the implementation of our business plan, as well as strategic partnerships we implement with cities and regional authorities of our country, we gradually develop the appropriate product mix for the diffusion of tourism product, and the overall enhancement of its qualitative characteristics.”
