Aegean Airlines

[jfy1999]

Managed to claw back another one. Surprised no one else has reported on this yet - maybe too distracted by the election

"AEGEAN is also adding 3 new destinations to its network directly to Birmingham, Paphos, Bilbao"

AEGEAN 2020: Starting point for more | About Aegean

Aegean Airlines - Official Website. Book your flight to Athens, Greece and Europe with Aegean Airlines, the largest Greek airline. Reserve cheap flights.

en.about.aegeanair.com

Looks to operate twice a week on Tue & Fri.

It departs Athens on those days and returns on Wednesday and Sunday. The flight times are even more anti-social than the last time it operated!

ATH 22:15 BHX 00:05
BHX 00:55 ATH 06:35

Aegean have mid-morning arrivals at other destinations in the UK and Western Europe so I'm wondering how we have seemingly been singled out for red-eye flights?

 

[Brum X]

Great news forum

 

[thunderchild]

Aegean have mid-morning arrivals at other destinations in the UK and Western Europe so I'm wondering how we have seemingly been singled out for red-eye flights?

Looks to be still aimed at passengers connecting onto the islands.

 

[Matt995]

Nice to see them back next summer, another lost route Ray that you can cross off the list now!!

 

[David_itl]

The morning MAN flights by them are only in winter time. We too have the summer midnight flights.

 

[smithy108]

Official press release

Birmingham Airport welcomes new route from Aegean Airlines
From 3rd June 2020, Aegean Airlines will be flying direct from Birmingham Airport to the Greek capital of Athens – a brand new route for the airport this year.
Aegean Airlines is a member of the Star Alliance group, joining seven Star Alliance airlines already operating from Birmingham Airport including; Austrian Airlines, Air India, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, SAS, SWISS, and Turkish Airlines.
During the summer season, Aegean Airlines will operate a twice-weekly service to Athens from Birmingham Airport on both Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The new service improves the choice of connections for passengers travelling to surrounding Greek Islands via Athens, including the likes of Corfu, Mykonos and Rhodes. Connections can also be made to destinations located in the Mediterranean, including Larnaca, a port city located on the south coast of Cyprus and Cairo, Egypt’s bustling capital.
Athens, the largest of cities in Greece is packed with layers of ancient Greek history. From views of the Acropolis from almost every part of the city, amongst many other landmarks – centuries if not millennia old, the city boasts an abundance of things to see and do. Combined with a contemporary feel with its street art, art shows, architecture and beaches, Athens has something to offer a range of holidaymakers and sightseers. The climate in the summer is hot and dry, reaching highs of over 30 degrees.

Tom Screen, Aviation Director at Birmingham Airport, said: “We’re excited to see the return of Aegean Airlines to Birmingham Airport with the launch of this new route to Athens. Whether you’re looking for a city break, or more of a beach holiday, the city of Athens has so much to offer. The connectivity out of Athens Airport is a real advantage for Aegean and will allow holidaymakers the opportunity to explore and enjoy more of the Greek islands, as well as destinations slightly further afield. We look forward to working with Aegean Airlines once again, and hope to see further routes from them in the coming years.”
Roland Jaggi, Chief Commercial Officer at Aegean Airlines, said: "We are delighted to be returning to Birmingham and with a new route to Athens, which will provide UK passengers with even greater ease, convenience and accessibility to visit Greece via Midlands’s largest airport. We consistently create new destination options for our passengers, along with the offer of new services.”
The Aegean Airlines service will be operated by an Airbus A320 aircraft with 174 seats on board.
For more information on Aegean Airlines and the routes it operates, please visit: en.aegeanair.com/

 

[Nethercote2019]

PR department is obviously back to work, great& here’s hoping they have a busy time ahead !

 

[smithy108]

PR department is obviously back to work, great& here’s hoping they have a busy time ahead !

Talk about feast and famine !!

 

[jfy1999]

So I was thinking about this news for a bit (while eating my hat after the comment I made yesterday about the PR department ) and it has raised a question for me,

Back in 2017-18 when we had a mass exodus of airlines it was reported on here that there would be no financial sweeteners for any airline that decided to return. So I'm wondering, are Aegean paying the full rate, or have sweeteners been reinstated under Mr Barton's regime?

I expect the relevant information will be confidential for a while at least but it would be interesting to know as it could be a good indicator of how much confidence Aegean have in the route, and what needs to be done in order to attract other airlines back.

 

[58terminus]

So I'm wondering, are Aegean paying the full rate, or have sweeteners been reinstated under Mr Barton's regime?

I guess we will know about this time next year.

 

[Brum X]

I guess we will know about this time next year.

Last time around they were at BHX for x 3 seasons before they withdrew ?

 

[davecleaver777]

58 would you return out the blue......

 

[58terminus]

Last time around they were at BHX for x 3 seasons before they withdrew ?

What i was trying to say was who knows what kind of deals BHX were offering then but its unlikely they are offering them now
Did they throw the toys out of the pram when the deal was not extended?.
Now the airline will have to cover more of the costs of operating the route.If it is a success I'm sure BHX will offer a good deal to another airline to compete with them. (Only joking)
If it is a succes they Will be back for a 2nd season.
On the plus side the fact they are back suggests the pram scenario and the route can pay without the big deals.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Also, if you threw some money at an airline for them to just walk away would you do it again?

Sadly we'll never know as that sort of info would not find it's way into the public domain.

 

[Brum X]

Not sure of the date but maybe a possibility, but great that they still have BHX listed as a destination.

Athens – Birmingham eff 04AUG20 2 weekly A320

News | Routes

Routes is the home of the world’s leading aviation network development conferences and events. Plus aviation news and features, and profiles of global airlines and airports.

www.routesonline.com

 

[Ray Finkle]

Good news.

It seems that international flight to Greece will be allowed to resume in July.

Coronavirus: Greece to reopen tourism season in June, PM says

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis says his country has shown that it is a "passport of safety".

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Wrightfly73]

Unfortunately Aegean have scrapped it's plans to resume Athens this Summer.

Flights are no longer on sale on the website.

Fingers crossed that Birmingham remains in Aegean's plans for the future. I hope that it will be back in 2021!

 

[thunderchild]

There was an Aegean flight in from Athens this morning. Repatriation?

 

[JENNYJET]

Always possible but is it long past time for repat flights, given it is months since the big Wamos and the cruise ships etc.?

 

[Coathanger16]

Always possible but is it long past time for repat flights, given it is months since the big Wamos and the cruise ships etc.?

Repatriation flights in general are still going on:

5th Phase Of Indian Repatriation Flights To Begin Tomorrow

India will launch the fifth phase of its Vande Bharat Mission tomorrow to repatriate Indian nationals that are…

simpleflying.com

To put things in a sense of scale, there are approximately 1.2 million British expats living in Australia. If all of them wanted to return to the UK, it would take the entire Emirates A380 fleet (115 of them) flying every day for 3 weeks to bring them all back!