Aegean Picks Up Yet Another Quality Award
The European Regions Airline Association last month presented Greece’s Aegean Airlines the Silver Award Airline of the Year 2004/5. Aegean Airlines’ general manager, Dimitris Gerogiannis, accepted the award during a prestigious ceremony held in conjunction with the associations’ annual general assembly held in Gothenburg, Sweden, with 600 international press and airline delegates.
“We are very pleased to take a medal for the second year in row. This prestigious distinction rewards the efforts of all my colleagues at Aegean Airlines and therefore I would like to dedicate it to them for their hard work to deliver our passengers a punctual and quality oriented service” said Aegean Airlines’ general manager on accepting the award.
“It also reflects the satisfaction of more than 17 million passengers and we would like to assure them that we will continue providing services with the Respect and Quality they deserve,” he said.
The ERA Airline of the Year Award is the most recognized airline award for this sector of the industry. The aim of the award is to recognize the best overall achievement in the previous 12 months by an ERA member airline based on a wide range of criteria such as commercial and marketing strategy, finance, environment, operational efficiency and performance, product and customer service and industry representation.
Aegean Airlines-winner of the ERA Bronze Award Airline of the Year 2000/1 and “Gold Award Airline of the Year 2004/5-is considered the most dynamic airline in Greece and for the past five years has grown at an average of 20% per year.
Since May 1999 has carried more than 17 million passengers, operates 19 aircraft on scheduled and charter flights to 60 domestic and international airports, covers 14 destinations in Greece and 12 international, employs more than 1.600 staff, is the only Greek airline offering electronic ticket (e-ticket) and e-check-in through www.aegeanair.com.
In March 2005, Aegean Airlines was selected by Lufthansa as regional partner for code share flights beginning on 1/11/2005. As such, Aegean Airlines is the only Greek carrier that has been able to participate in an international partnership.
In 2004 Aegean continued to strengthen its position in the region and demonstrated that persistent focus on the customer, service quality and innovation can drive sustained growth and profitability even under very adverse environmental conditions.
Aegean achieved strong growth in 2004 and managed to post a second consecutive year of positive financial results. This was achieved despite the steep increase in fuel prices. In addition Aegean maintained top position in on-time performance at Athens International Airport.
E-ticketing use multiplied and has now become a significant portion of Aegean traffic. The first half of 2005 has seen continued traffic growth, especially in the international routes. As of April, Aegean launched e-check-in for customers via the Internet. The biggest development in 2005 is the announced cooperation between Lufthansa and Aegean.