Etihad has signed a codeshare agreement with Aegean Airlines

Beyond Athens, Etihad Airways will also place its flight code on Aegean-operated flights to 16 Greek destinations, and to a further 10 cities across Europe. In return, Aegean will offer new codeshare routes between Athens and seven destinations across the Gulf region, Australia and South Africa.

Dimitris Gerogiannis, Aegean Airlines Managing Director, said: “By partnering with Etihad Airways, Aegean gains access to the Gulf region and South Africa as well increasing connection opportunities to Australia. Aegean will also open up points on its network to Etihad Airways customers, and will enhance access to and from Greece via Abu Dhabi. The combined proposition to business and leisure travellers has never been stronger. The award-winning service quality of both Aegean and Etihad Airways will guarantee the best possible travel experience. I am confident Greek tourism and businesses will benefit significantly from this development, as will Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, and one of the world’s leading business and tourism destinations.”

James Hogan, Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “We started daily Abu Dhabi-Athens flights in June 2009, and since then, we have experienced strong demand year on year. The new Aegean-operated Abu Dhabi-Athens flight will complement Etihad Airways’ existing daily operation between the two cities, enhancing access between Greece and the rest of our global network. Our customer proposition will also be further strengthened as we will soon be able to place our flight code on Aegean flights to popular Greek destinations”.

These destinations include Alexandroupolis, Chania, Chios, Heraklion, Ioannina, Kavala, Cephalonia, Corfu, Kos, Lemnos, Mykonos, Mytilene, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini, and Thessaloniki. The services will appeal not only to travellers from the UAE and wider Gulf region, but equally to travellers from further afield including the Greek diaspora in Australia and South Africa.

The Aegean-operated European destinations that will carry an EY flight number include: Vienna, Prague, Rome, Venice, Warsaw, Bucharest, Madrid, Tirana, Sofia and Larnaca.

Aegean Airlines plans to place its A3 flight code on Etihad Airways-operated flights from Abu Dhabi to Athens, Bahrain, Kuwait, Johannesburg, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

Etihad Airways: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, began operations in 2003, and in 2012 carried 10.3 million passengers. From its hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Etihad Airways offers flights to 102 passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas, with a fleet of 87 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and over 220 aircraft on firm order, including 71 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, 25 Boeing 777-X, 62 Airbus A350s, and 10 Airbus A380s, the world’s largest passenger aircraft. Etihad Airways holds equity investments in airberlin, Air Seychelles, Virgin Australia, Aer Lingus and Jet Airways. Subject to regulatory approval, Etihad Airways will launch a new airline brand in Q1 2014, Etihad Regional, after taking a 33.3 per cent stake in Swiss carrier Darwin Airline. The airline will also acquire 49 per cent of Air Serbia from January 2014.

For more information, please visit: www.etihad.com  
 
Aegean Airlines: Aegean Airlines, a Star Alliance member, is Greece’s largest full-service airline, and is expected to carry about 6.5 million passengers in 2013. An additional 2 million passengers are expected to be transported by Olympic Air, Aegean Airlines’ subsidiary company acquired in October 2013. AEGEAN has been investing over many years in strengthening its international presence and in supporting tourism in Greece, both in Athens and at regional airports. The AEGEAN fleet consists of 30 Airbus A320 family aircraft with an average age of 4.5 years, while Olympic operates 14 Bombardier Q series family aircraft. The combined route network of the two companies in 2014 will exceed 205 international routes, and a further 45 domestic ones. In 2013, the independent research firm SKYTRAX ranked AEGEAN as 'Best Regional Airline Europe' in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers as part of its 2013 World Airline Awards. It is the fourth time that the company has received this distinction, the previous being in 2009, 2011 and 2012. In its 14 years history, AEGEAN has also received awards on six occasions by the European Regions Airline Association (ERA).