Network enhancement and new domestic and international flights in 2007

Aegean Airlines closed its 8th year of operations, 2006 continuing its successful development.

In 2006, Aegean Airlines carried 4.447.481 passengers using its 21 jet aircraft, thus achieving an increase of 11% compared to 2005. The number of passengers carried is important in a European scale also, as it classifies Aegean as a medium size air carrier in Europe. It should be noted that Aegean’s traffic growth rate is double than the 5,6% achieved by all airlines operating in the Athens International Airport during 2006. Furthermore, Aegean carries 22,5% of the entire passenger traffic of the Athens International Airport, served by more than 60 airlines.

In the domestic market, in 2006 Aegean achieved an increase of 10% compared to 2005 carrying 3.014.117 passengers. Aegean was even more dynamic in the international market, carrying 1.433.364 passengers indicating an increase of 15,5% compared to 2005. Aegean operated with 21 jet aircraft which flew 48.286 flights with a load factor that exceeded 70%. The average passenger number per flight reached 92 indicating an increase of 4% compared to 2005.

This passenger traffic increase is owed to the increase of the number of flights from Thessaloniki to Germany, the newly established cooperation of Aegean with Lufthansa, the market share increase in the Cyprus route as well as the addition of new routes as

Sofia, Bucharest, Cairo and Samos. A significant contribution was that of the charter operations, showing an increase of 19%. In that field, Aegean increased its fleet to 4 aircraft exclusively dedicated to charter operations thus offering direct services to the Greek islands from 25 European airports mainly in France, Italy, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and therefore supporting Greek tourism.

Aegean continues with its fare policy of “The earlier, the cheaper”,  rewarding those passengers who book their flights as early as possible, with fares which start at 19 euros for domestic flights and 39 euros for international flights and which also include the fuel surcharge.

[GADS_NEWS]Aegean, continuing its growth is taking delivery of its first three brand new Airbus A320 in February and March 2007, increasing its fleet to 24 jet aircraft and enhances its route network in the summer schedule of 2007 in three directions :

1)      International Network Enhancement from Athens

Three additional direct flights to Munich and Frankfurt, which will be flown with AEGEAN’s new AIRBUS A320s. Together with Lufthansa’s flights to these destinations, daily direct flights reach 9, therefore offering a wider schedule and a more efficient connection with these two main European hubs and to 181 destinations and 76 countries beyond through Lufthansa’s network.

In Italy a second flight to Milan is inaugurated giving the capability to fly there and back in the same day while through its cooperation with AIRONE there will be a third daily flight to Rome while already offering a direct service to Naples.

Finally, with the summer schedule of 2007, the schedules to Bucharest and Sofia are enhanced and improved.

2)      More direct domestic and international flights from Thessaloniki.

Aegean, reinforcing its position as the largest air carrier for Northern Greece adds new flights from Thessaloniki to Chania and Kos while it increases its frequencies to Mykonos, Santorini and Heraklion. Furthermore, in conjunction to the international network it introduces new direct flights from Thessaloniki to Bucharest and significantly reinforces frequencies to Larnaka.

3)      Flights from Heraklion and other tourist destinations.

Aegean, for the first time introduces scheduled flights from Heraklion and Rhodes to international destinations, contributing in this way to the extension of the tourist season and in the development of Greek tourism. In particular, Aegean introduces direct flilghts from Heraklion to Munich, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Larnaca, Milan while for two summer months there will be direct flights from Mykonos and Santorini to Rome and Milan.

Mr. Theodore Vassilakis, Chairman and Managing Director of Aegean Airlines stated : “The production results of 2006 reflect the confidence of the traveling public towards Aegean Airlines. They indicate that the strategy we follow is efficient and allow us to proceed even more dynamically. This is why in 2007, by taking delivery of the first 3 Airbus A320, we significantly enhance our network and at the same time embark in an investment of renewal of our fleet which will further improve our level of services”.

The main characteristics of the new summer schedule, effective as of the 25^th of March 2007 are as follows :

New International Flights.

• 2 New direct daily flights between Athens-Munich.
• 1 New direct flight between Athens-Frankfurt.
• Addition of 2^nd direct daily flight Athens-Milan.
• Addition of 3^rd direct daily flight Athens-Rome starting early June in cooperation with Air One.
• New direct flights Thessaloniki-Bucharest twice weekly every Monday and Wednesday.
• Addition of a 2^nd direct flight Thessaloniki-Larnaka in specific days depending on the period.
• New direct flights from Heraklion to Munic (3 flights weekly).
• New direct flights from Heraklion to Dusseldorf (1 flight weekly)
• New direct flights from Heraklion to Stuttgart (1 flight weekly).
• New direct flights from Heraklion to Larnaka (3 flights weekly).
• Rhodes-Milan, once weekly.
• Direct flights from Mykonos to Rome (2 flights weekly from mid July to September).
• Direct flights from Mykonos to Milan (twice weekly)
• Direct flights from Santorini to Rome and Santorini to Milan (once weekly).

New domestic flights.

• New direct Thessaloniki-Chania flights, 2 times weekly increasing to 3 weekly in peak season.
• New direct flight Thessaloniki-Kos, once weekly starting 15 July to end of August.
• Schedule enhancements in the summer period of connections from Thessaloniki to Mykonos, Santorini and Heraklion while at the same time, flight times are improved.
• Heraklion – Rhodes once weekly.

Aegean Airlines is the most dynamically developing Greek airline and the first ever Greek airline to offer electronic ticketing and electronic check-in. Aegean offers 150 scheduled flights daily to 15 destinations in Greece and 10 internationally (in Germany, Italy, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Egypt). Aegean is a Regional Partner of Lufthansa providing access for its passengers to LUFTHANSA’s global network. Additional advantages of the cooperation are the collection and redemption of frequent flier miles by passengers travelling on both airlines.