In 2009, it carried 6,600,000 passengers[9] surpassing for the first time its rival Olympic Airlines, which carried 5,265,729 passengers.[10] In 2010 Aegean Airlines carried 6,100,000 passengers, of which 50% were foreigners.[9] In 2011 Aegean Airlines carried 6.5 million passengers of which, 54% was on international routes.

In 2012 and amidst the unprecedented economic crisis that Greek tourism faced, Aegean Airlines accumulated a total number of passengers of 6.1 million but with a sharp increase in passengers from International destinations to regional airports of Greece (Heraklion, Rhodes, Corfu, Chania, Thessaloniki). Athens International Airport suffered a decrease of 6% from 2011 but the airline managed to increase the load factor of its scheduled flights from 68.9% to 74.3%.[11]

In 2013 the airline reported carrying 6.9 million passengers, an increase of 12% compared to 2012, with an average load factor of 79%.[5]

On 21 October 2012 Aegean Airlines announced that it had struck a deal to acquire Olympic Air,[12] and the buyout was approved by the European Commission a year later, on 9 October 2013.[13] Both carriers continue to operate under separate brands.[14]

History
An Aegean Airlines British Aerospace Avro RJ100 (used 1999-2011).
Boeing 737-300 (used 2001-2010).
Aegean Airlines Airbus A320-232 (used from 2007).
An Aegean Airlines Airbus A321-231 landing at London Heathrow Airport, England (2010, used from 2008).

Aegean Airlines was founded as Aegean Aviation in 1987.[15] It was originally a VIP/business air operation specialising in executive and air ambulance services. On 17 February 1992, it became the first airline to be issued with a Greek independent air operator's licence.[15] After it was bought by Vasilakis Group in 1994, Aegean Aviation commenced VIP flights from Athens all over the world with wholly owned Learjet aircraft. The Aegean Airlines name was adopted with the start of scheduled passenger services at the end of May 1999.[15]

Aegean's first commercial flights were in May 1999 from Athens to Heraklion, Crete and Thessaloniki with 2 brand-new wholly owned British Aerospace Avro RJ100. In December 1999 Aegean also bought Air Greece.[15] After an agreement in March 2001 to merge Aegean and Cronus Airlines, the company operated for a while as Aegean Cronus Airlines until full integration.[15][16] Since 2005, the airline has been in partnership with Lufthansa, offering participation in the Miles & More programme, and its flights, in addition to its A3 code also have the Lufthansa LH code.[15] In March 2006, Aegean Airlines also entered into a co-operation agreement with TAP Portugal .[15] In December 2008, Aegean Airlines announced its co-operation with Brussels Airlines.[17]

In 2009, Aegean Airlines started codeshare agreements with; bmi, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and TAP Portugal.

As of October 2013 the airline is owned by Theodoros Vassilakis (38.69% - 29.23% directly and 9.46% via Autοhellas SA), Alnesco Enterprises Company Limited (9.48%), Siana Enterprises Company Limited (9.48%), Konstantakopoulos Achilleas (6.39%).[18]

On 26 May 2009, the Aegean Airlines' membership application was approved by the Chief Executive Board of Star Alliance. Aegean officially joined the alliance on 30 June 2010.
Attempted merger with Olympic Air and buyout
Main article: Olympic Air

In February 2010, initial shareholder discussions took place to consider co-operation between Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air fueling rumours of a possible merger. [19] On 22 February 2010, Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines announced that they agreed to a merger.[20][21][22] The newly merged airline was to carry the Olympic brand name and logo, after a transition period in which both airline brands will be used in parallel.[20] The Aegean brand would cease to exist after the transition period. It was expected that the merger would be finalised and the new combined airline would begin operation by October 2010.[22][23]

Aegean joined Star Alliance at the end of June 2010.[20] The intent was for the merged carrier to be a Star Alliance member, despite the fact that Olympic Air was forging ties with SkyTeam pre-merger.[24] Star Alliance welcomed the proposed merger, releasing a statement stating "The integration teams from both sides will soon meet to assess the necessary steps, in order to guarantee a smooth transition of the merged Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air operations into the Star Alliance network".[25]

On 26 January 2011, the European Commission blocked the merger between the two airlines, citing anti-competition concerns.[26][27][28] The commission stated that the merger would have created a "quasi-monopoly" in Greece's air transport market, with the combined airline controlling more than 90% of the Greek domestic air transport market.[29] The EC further stated its belief that the merger would lead to higher fares for four of the six million Greek and European passengers flying to and from Athens each year,[26] with no realistic prospects that a new airline of sufficient size would enter the market to restrain the merged airline's pricing.[27] Additionally, commissioner Joaquin Almunia stated that the merger would have led to higher prices and lower quality of service for Greeks and tourists traveling between Athens and the islands.[28] Both carriers offered remedies in an attempt to ease concerns, though the EU believed that they would not be enough to protect travelers adequately and ease competition concerns.[28] One of the remedies offered by the airlines included ceding takeoff and landing slots at Greek airports, though the commission noted that Greek airports do not suffer from the congestion observed at other European airports in previous airline mergers or alliances.[26]

On October 21, 2012 Aegean Airlines announced that it had struck a deal to acquire Olympic Air, pending approval by the European Commission.On April 23, 2013, the European Commission issued a press release announcing it was starting an in-depth investigation into the proposed acquisition of Olympic Air by Aegean Airlines[30] and announcing that the Commission will have reached a decision by September 3, 2013. On August 13, 2013 it was published in the Greek media that the final decision had been delayed until October 16, 2013.[31] The merger was approved by the European Commission on October 9, 2013 citing that "due to the on-going Greek crisis and given Olympic's own very difficult financial situation, Olympic would be forced to leave the market soon in any event".

On 1 February 2014 Aegean Airlines took over every non-PSO route that was previously operated by Olympic Air.[32][unreliable source?]
Corporate affairs
Business trends

The table below summarises recent business trends of Aegean Airlines based on the company's official financial reports. In 2013, it reported revenues of €682.7, the highest in its history.[33] The company also returned to profit, having gained €66.3 million after taxes, also the highest number in its history.[33]
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Revenue (€ millions) 283.5 340.6 401.1 482.7 611.7 622.7 591.0 668.2 653.4 682.7
Net Profits/Losses after tax (€ millions) −3.6 15.0 24.6 35.8 29.5 23.0 −23.3 −27.2 −10.5 66.3
Number of employees 1,551 1,629 1,729 1,923 2,142 2,463 1,949 1,615 1,347 1,459
Number of passengers (m) 4.3 4.5 5.2 6.0 6.6 6.2 6.5 6.1 6.9
Passenger load factor (%) >70 70 70 74 79
Number of aircraft 21 23 29 33 26 29 28 30
Notes/sources [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [33]
Livery and branding
The "standard" Aegean Airlines livery, seen here on an Airbus A321-200.

The Aegean Airlines livery is mostly "eurowhite", featuring a thin red line towards the bottom of its planes. Above it, the fuselage is white and features the airline's name, written in the Aegean Airlines font, in dark blue. Below the red line, the fuselage is painted gray. The Aegean Airlines logo, two seaguls in front of the sun, is featured on the tail of all its aircraft. In addition to its standard livery, Aegean also utilises a number of non-standard liveries, such as a Star Alliance one as well as one celebrating the New Acropolis Museum.
Aegean Airlines livery
Aegean Airlines Star Alliance livery
Star Alliance livery
Visit Greece livery
Acropolis Museum livery
Visit Greece livery
Destinations
Main article: Aegean Airlines destinations
Codeshare agreements

Aegean Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:[41]

Brussels Airlines (Star Alliance)
EgyptAir (Star Alliance)[42]
Etihad Airways[43]
Lufthansa (Star Alliance)
Olympic Air[44]
S7 Airlines (Oneworld)

Scandinavian Airlines (Star Alliance)
Singapore Airlines (Star Alliance)
TAP Portugal (Star Alliance)
United Airlines (Star Alliance)
US Airways (Oneworld)

Additionally, Aegean Airlines has a commercial agreement with Trenitalia.[45][unreliable source?]
Charter flights

During summer season, Aegean Airlines operates seven A320s, performing charter services in association with major tourist operators. The charter flights connect popular holiday destinations in Greece to Italy, France, United Kingdom, Poland, Israel, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Austria, Germany, Hungary and Ukraine.[46]
Fleet
Former Aegean Airlines Airbus A319-132 reg. SX-DGH, refueling at Athens International Airport (used from 2011).

In its history, Aegean has so far made two strategic plans for its fleet. The first was meant to withdraw all turboprop planes from the fleet, which was accomplished in May 2004.[1] Following this, Aegean placed a large order for 27 Airbus A320 and Airbus A321 in order to renew its fleet.[1] As of March 2014, Aegean Airlines operates an all-Airbus fleet consisting of the following aircraft with an average age of 5.7 years:[47][48]
Aegean Airlines fleet[49] Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
Airbus A319-100 1 1 144 Olympic Air's last remaining A319 to join Aegean's fleet.
Airbus A320-200 26 7[33][50] 168 One in Star Alliance livery. Deliveries 2015-2016.
Two A320s to be delivered in Q2 2014.[33]
Airbus A321-200 6[51] 0 195
Total 33 8

In August 2010, Aegean became the first airline to commit to upgrading its Airbus A320 fleet with FANS-B+ datalink system offered by Airbus, which will be mandated by February 2015 across European Airspace.[52] Between 2015 and 2016, Aegean expects the delivery of five more brand new Airbus A320s to its fleet.[33]
Historic fleet
Boeing 737-400 being taxied from a gate at Munich Airport, Germany (2009, used 2001-2011).

Aegean has also operated the following aircraft:

ATR 72-202
ATR 72-500 (ATR 72-212A)
Boeing 737-300
Boeing 737-400
British Aerospace Avro RJ100

Aegean Airlines hangar in Athens International Airport.
Awards and recognition

Aegean Airlines has received a number of awards and recognitions:[53] (*Airport issued awards not included)

2000/2001 – ERA Bronze Award: Airline of the Year
2004/2005 – ERA Gold Award: Airline of the Year
2005/2006 – ERA Silver Award: Airline of the Year
2006/2007 – ERA Silver Award: Airline of the Year
2007 – ERA's Palme d'Or award
2008/2009 – ERA Gold Award: Airline of the year
2009 – Skytrax Top Regional Airline in Europe
2011 – Skytrax Top Regional Airline in Europe
2012 – Skytrax Top Regional Airline in Europe
2013 – Skytrax Top Regional Airline in Europe
2013 – On-time Performance Service Awards (most reliable regional airline in Europe for 2012)

References

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"AEGEAN: European Commission’s approval of the acquisition of Olympic Air allows the creation of a viable, dynamic Greek carrier". www.aegeanair.com. 9 October 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
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External links
Official website (English)
Official website (Greek)