Aegean has once more been voted the Best Regional Airline in Europe in the Skytrax World Airline Awards for 2024. Aegean celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and the award is its 13th successive and the 14th overall win in this category. In addition it was 2nd in the ranking of Best Regional Airline in the World, coming second to Bangkok Airways, and third in the list of Best Airlines in Southern Europe, after Turkish Airlines and Iberia.
In the list of the World’s Top 100 Airlines 2024, Aegean came 40th, down from 36th in 2023, but well ahead of local market competitors such as Ryanair (63) and Easyjet (66). Aegean is a member of Star Alliance, which includes such companies as Air Canada, Lufthansa and United Airlines and was voted the top Airline Alliance in the world at the same event.
At the awards ceremony in London, Aegean’s CEO Dimitrios Gerogiannis said: “On this occasion of our 25th anniversary, we are proud and honoured to be named the Best Regional Airline in Europe at the Skytrax 2024 World Airline Awards. This 14th win in this category and our 13th consecutive year, is a testament to the unwavering commitment and dedication of our entire team. It is a truly remarkable achievement for us in such a competitive and challenging industry. As we celebrate this anniversary, we are more committed than ever to enhancing our services and providing our passengers with high standards of service and hospitality. Thank you to all our loyal customers and my colleagues for making this success possible.”
In congratulating the airline, the CEO of Skytrax, Edward Plaisted, described the award as “A really noteworthy achievement for an airline in the very competitive region in which it operates.”
The Skytrax awards
This year’s World Airline Awards were announced at a gala ceremony held on Monday 24th June 2024 at the Fairmont Windsor Park hotel, situated close to London’s Heathrow Airport. More than 325 guests attended the event from airlines across the world, with a large number of CEOs and senior management, as well as uniformed airline staff, present to accept their awards.
First held in 1999, the annual World Airline Awards are independent and impartial, a Skytrax press release notes, with all the costs of the survey and the awards paid by the company. The online customer survey for the 2024 awards was conducted from September 2023 to May 2024, with questionnaires provided in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Chinese. Over 100 customer nationalities participated in the survey and entries were screened to identify IP and user information, with all duplicate, suspect or ineligible entries deleted. More than 350 airlines were featured in the final award results.
In the key ranking of the 100 Best Airlines in the World, Qatar Airways was voted best airline followed by last years’ winner Singapore Airlines and Emirates.
A competitor for Aegean
A fast-growing competitor for Aegean in both the domestic and European markets is SKY Express. Founded in 2005 in Heraklion as a small local airline connecting Crete with the mainland and nearby islands, it has now grown to serve 33 domestic and 37 international destinations in 15 countries.
On Thursday 27th June the airline took delivery of a new Airbus 320 neo and in July it expects to add a new ATR 72-600 to its fleet. The company’s latest round of investments, to be completed in 2025, includes the acquisition of 6 ultramodern aircraft – 2 Airbus A320 neo and 4 ATR 72-600. They will bring the Sky Express fleet up to a total of 30 aircraft. However, as the company’s founder and president Ioannis Grilos said at a press conference on Wednesday, the company is already in discussions with Airbus to further expand its fleet, while an entry into the stock market may be contemplated “whenever it is judged to be the right moment”.
SKY Express’s chief commercial officer Gerasimos Skaltsas said that 2023 was a highly successful and profitable year for the company in which it served 4,4 million customers, while in 2024 they expect to exceed this figure by 10 per cent. This year they are offering 6.4 million seats on the Greek market, of which 80 per cent are from Eleftherios Venizelos airport in Athens.
Commenting on the company’s strategy of investing in the ATR, a regional turbo-prop aircraft seating up to 78 passengers, Mr Skaltsas said: “It is the indicated solution for the domestic network, providing the flexibility required for many regional airports in Greece. It is reinforcing the domestic touristic product, adding a total of 100,000 extra seats for summer 2024 to popular tourist destinations in the country such as the Cyclades and the Dodecanese.”
He also referred to the extension of the tourist season in Crete, with flights from Heraklion to France continuing until the end of November, and to the company’s strategic alliances with large companies around the world. In July, it is starting cooperation with Gulf Air, he said.
(Haniotika Nea 26/06/24)