From picking up cancelled Airbus NEO orders, to acquiring a block of ownership in Spanish Low Cost Carrier Volotea, expanding their hold on the fortress bases of Athens, Thessaloniki, and Larnaca, and consistently being at the top of Skytrax' Best Regional Airline lists, Aegean Airlines' expansion in the post-Covid airline landscape is nothing short of a calculated, meteoric ascent.
The latest announcement out of Athens is more expansion and resumption of routes previously canceled due to various reasons outside the airline's control, as well as the always welcomed increased frequencies on busier routes.
New Routes
Aegean continues to expand its network and destinations with the addition of services from Athens to Las Palmas, in the Spanish Canary Islands and from Heraklion to Metz, France in February of 2025 (I'm hoping I get a seat on the inaugural flight, I don't get much of a chance to cover first flights by carriers other than Alaska Airlines lately). Las Palmas will be one of the carrier's longest routes to date, clocking in at 2368 miles, with a block time of just under 6 hours in the Airbus A320. This has been a route that travelers have been begging Aegean for since before the pandemic, and it's about time it came to fruition. Let's hope it stays for the long term.
Erbil, Iraq sees itself getting a new nonstop connection to Athens, beginning February 23. These flights will start off as twice weekly, operating every Wednesday and Sunday for now, using Airbus A320's. This route fascinates me, but it's not terribly surprising, considering the number of Iraqi expats in Greece.
Heraklion to Metz, France might seem like a strange route, however, during the Summer High Season, all destinations in Crete are hot spots for sun worshippers. You see airlines operating multitudes of off-the-wall point to point routes in Central and Northern Europe to the various Greek Isles, more often than not with full loads and decent yields. Metz is the same, and this flight is only the 2nd destination in Europe served (Toulouse being the first), the rest of the airport's movements coming in from North African destinations, mainly Algeria and Morocco. Flights begin June 2, 2025, and run through the end of September using Airbus A320 aircraft.
Heraklion also sees new nonstop routes to Rhodes, Naxos, Kos, and Corfu. Rhodes will see daily service beginning in March, while Kos will see three weekly flights, and Naxos and Corfu will see twice weekly services, all starting June 2.
Rhodes is also getting more connectivity, with new services to Santorini (3x weekly) and Chania (twice weekly) beginning on the 3rd of June using ATR 42-600's of subsidiary Olympic Air.
The airline will also use its Airbus A320's and A320NEO's from Constantinople to Heraklion, Mykonos, Rhodes, and Santorini, with flights beginning on April 25 for Heraklion and Santorini, and June 3.
The mini-hub in Larnaca gets new routes as well, with new nonstop service to Rome/Fiumicino, Italy beginning the 1st of April), and the resumption of seasonal charters to one of my favorite destinations, Yerevan, Armenia on June 2nd. This brings the total number of routes to and from Larnaca to 5, with a total of 1.25 million seats offered to and from the spectacular island nation during 2025.
Last but not least, Thessaloniki will also get a new route to Syros, beginning on June 2nd as well, using Olympic Air ATR-72's. Granted, this flight is firmly in the seasonal category, with only three flights a week being offered. This goes hand-in-hand with Aegean's new year-round service to Amsterdam, by far one of the most important routes the carrier offers from Northern Greece.
Increased Services
On top of the new routes, Aegean has also announced the resumption of services to Baku, Azerbaijan, twice a week with Airbus A320NEO aircraft, beginning April 14. This route has been seasonal, but there is now a chance of seeing it become year-round, depending on its performance this year.
Increases in frequency will also be seen on flights from Athens to Izmir and Constantinople, Turkey, and from Heraklion and Santorini to Constantinople, along with more flights to more destinations in the Balkans with more flights to Sofia and Tirana, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (both Abu Dhabi and Dubai), and to major the European cities of Berlin, Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon. London Heathrow now sees a 4th daily flight from Athens as well, operated by the new Airbus A321NEO.
Ground Enhancements
Last June, Aegean opened up a brand new Business Lounge in Larnaca, further cementing the carrier's commitment to it's presence in Cyprus. Located on the departures level between gates 48-29, it is available for use by all Business Class, Star Alliance Gold, and Mile+Bonus Gold passengers on the day of travel. This lounge makes it the 4th lounge in total for Aegean, and as of the time of this writing there is one more lounge scheduled for announcement and opening of later this year. Don't quote me on this, but my money is on Heraklion being announced as the next location. It makes sense if Heraklion can support year-round service to other destinations besides Athens and Thessaloniki. With all the new flights starting out of Heraklion this year, I have high hopes at least two will become year-round.
The Travel Genius' Opinion
Aegean has come a very long way since its early days of VIP flights on Learjets and those initial forays into scheduled service with Avro RJ100's in 1999. They are now one of the most well-known, and well-respected regional carriers in Europe, constantly winning award after award from Skytrax and other industry media outlets. Their explosive, but calculated growth post-Covid are signs of a well-managed, properly run carrier that doesn't let management ego or government influence weigh it down.
These new routes and additional frequencies further bolster their presence in the region and the bustling hubs in Athens, Thessaloniki, and Larnaca prove the cities can withstand the traffic. The enhancements and capital outlays Aegean has laid out go hand in hand with their performance and profits to make them one of, if not the most secure and well-run airlines in the Mediterranean. I doubt you'll see them make the mistakes Olympic Airways made after Onassis sold them off, and to many Greeks' chagrin, you might never see them operate widebody aircraft to far-flung places like Sydney, Tokyo, Johannesburg, New York, or Boston. They just don't need to. They know where they fit in the world, and they are making the most of it in profitable ways.
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