Aegean Airlines’ 9-Month 2014 Results Show Strong Profitability, 14% Growth in Passengers

Greek carrier Aegean Airlines has reported a strong set of nine-month 2014 results, driven by successful network expansion and Olympic Air synergies.

According to the airline, consolidated revenue increased by 10 percent to 736m euros, pre-tax earnings improved to 105.4m euros from 75.9m euros while net earnings rose by 31 percent to 78.6m euros from 60m euros in 2013*.

Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air carried 7.9m passengers in the nine-month period to September 2014, an increase of 14 percent compared to 2013 with load factor at 79 percent.

Traffic in the domestic network increased by 16 percent with the market showing good elasticity to lower fares. International traffic rose by 12 percent, with traffic out of Athens registering a higher growth rate of 18 percent on the back of the airline’s network expansion and a strong rebound for the city’s incoming tourism.

Operating cash flow improved to 124m euros, resulting to cash & short term investments rising to 264m euros at the end of September, despite the share capital return which took place in July 2014 as well as pre-delivery payments to Airbus in relation to the recently announced aircraft order.

The Greek carrier intends to continue to invest in growing its fleet and capacity for 2015, adding destinations and penetrating new source markets for Greek tourism.

“Our key priorities involve continuous investments in growing our network, achieving scale economies as well as focusing on new service offerings to our passengers within a fast changing competitive environment that does offer however significant opportunities to grow further,” Aegean’s managing director, Dimitris Gerogiannis, said.

* Comparison based on 9-month 2013 pro-forma results, assuming consolidation of Olympic Air