Greek regional carrier
Aegean Airlines began scheduled flights in early June immediately after accepting delivery of its first two new Avro RJ-100 passenger jets. The 100-seat configured four-engine jets are now being used on the country`s most popular domestic routes. Unlike its main competitor, state-owned Olympic Aviation, the company`s jets come with 30-odd seats in business-class configuration so as to provide total up-market service on domestic routes. Immediate plans for the airline include the addition of three more RJ100s by next March for a fleet of five company-owned jets at a total fleet investment of $100 million in brand new aircraft.
Third and fourth new jets will be delivered in September and January. A fifth is expected in March. Immediate schedules include a number of daily flights to Thessaloniki, three daily flights to Heraklion, two daily flights to Rodos and a daily flight to Chania. The company plans 168 weekly departures and intends to carry 64,000 passengers per month, which translates into about 20% of total market share.
Except for Aegean, a number of Greek independent carriers – Cronus Airlines, Air Greece and Axon Airlines – have taken to the air in a brave attempt to grab market share from the ailing state-owned carrier Olympic Airways.
Aegean, a subsidiary of the Vassilaki Group, was founded in 1988 and in 1992 received the first permit issued to a private Greek airline by the Civil Aviation Authority, and the only Greek company with its own jets. Until now, its services centered on air taxi service and business charter flights.
To gather the required capital to change the airline from a small executive charter company to a full-fledged scheduled carrier, Aegean this past spring welcomed three new private investors into the company and worked with a venture company to increase its share capital by some 7.0 billion drachmas.
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Greek regional carrier
Aegean Airlines began scheduled flights in early June immediately after accepting delivery of its first two new Avro RJ-100 passenger jets. The 100-seat configured four-engine jets are now being used on the country`s most popular domestic routes. Unlike its main competitor, state-owned Olympic Aviation, the company`s jets come with 30-odd seats in business-class configuration so as to provide total up-market service on domestic routes. Immediate plans for the airline include the addition of three more RJ100s by next March for a fleet of five company-owned jets at a total fleet investment of $100 million in brand new aircraft.
Third and fourth new jets will be delivered in September and January. A fifth is expected in March. Immediate schedules include a number of daily flights to Thessaloniki, three daily flights to Heraklion, two daily flights to Rodos and a daily flight to Chania. The company plans 168 weekly departures and intends to carry 64,000 passengers per month, which translates into about 20% of total market share.
Except for Aegean, a number of Greek independent carriers – Cronus Airlines, Air Greece and Axon Airlines – have taken to the air in a brave attempt to grab market share from the ailing state-owned carrier Olympic Airways.
Aegean, a subsidiary of the Vassilaki Group, was founded in 1988 and in 1992 received the first permit issued to a private Greek airline by the Civil Aviation Authority, and the only Greek company with its own jets. Until now, its services centered on air taxi service and business charter flights.
To gather the required capital to change the airline from a small executive charter company to a full-fledged scheduled carrier, Aegean this past spring welcomed three new private investors into the company and worked with a venture company to increase its share capital by some 7.0 billion drachmas.
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