Emirates Sees Demand Growing for Travel to Greece in 2023

Emirates Area Manager for Greece and Albania Ibrahim Ghanim (second from left) with Emirates Airport Services Manager Antonis Portsakis, Emirates SkyCargo Cargo Manager Alexia Dimopoulou and Emirates Sales Manager Manolis Anastassiou

With demand for travel to Greece on an upward trend, Dubai-based airline Emirates says it intends to strengthen capacity whenever necessary.

“Greece has always been a strategic market for us and the return of our activities to pre-pandemic levels confirms our commitment to support its growth and recovery,” said the airline’s recently appointed Area Manager for Greece and Albania, Ibrahim Ghanim, during a press briefing in Athens, adding that the airline will closely follow the course of demand in the Greek market.

Presenting data regarding Emirates performance last year, Ghanim said the airline carried some 20 million passengers worldwide between April 1 and September 22, up 228 percent from the same period in 2021.

According to Ghanim, in 2022 the airline had a “very good year” and especially in the Greek market.

“The demand has been increasing for Greece and we are providing the necessary capacity right now for the market. Whenever we see that we have to enhance with additional capacity to meet that demand, we will,” he said.

Emirates has been serving the Greek market for 27 years, having launched flights between Athens and Dubai in 1996. In 2017 the airline added a direct, daily and year-round connection between Athens International Airport (AIA) and New York (Newark Airport), a route that has proven popular among Greek travelers.

“Being in Greece since 1996 means that the country is one of Emirates’ really important markets… It’s been a long journey – one that we ascended when we added the US flight to Newark, which has been very positive for the market and for the needs of the Greek market,” he said, adding that the period of operating the Athens-Newark route have been a “successful six years”.

In addition to the direct routes it maintains, Emirates has codeshare flights with Greek carrier AEGEAN, which assists in expanding its operations not only in Greece (to destinations such as Corfu, Chania, Heraklion, Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis) but also throughout Europe.

Main priority: Return to pre-pandemic numbers

When asked by GTP Headlines about the possibility of a direct flight connection between the US and Thessaloniki, which has been requested from the Greek side, Ghanim underlined that returning to pre-pandemic activity is the airline’s main priority.

“Right now we are providing exactly the right capacity in the right destination with the right product. We are always looking at whatever opportunities there are in the future, whether inside or outside Greece, but right now our priority is to recover to pre-pandemic numbers,” he told GTP Headlines.

Emirates also has a strong cargo network in Greece, having transported over 11,900 tons of cargo to and from Athens until 2022. The airline has been a leader in the cargo air transport market in Greece for eight consecutive years (2015-2022).

Emirates currently flies to 130 destinations, which is 92 percent of its pre-pandemic network.

“We are planning this year for the 100 percent of our aircraft to get back into the air to bring capacity and global network back to pre-pandemic levels,” Ghanim said.

In addition, the airline has increased connectivity through partnerships for codeshare flights with six airlines, Garuda, Royal Air Maroc, Airlink, AEGEAN, United Airlines and Air Canada. In summer 2022, Emirates carried more than 10 million passengers on almost 35,000 flights worldwide, confirming high demand after the pandemic. The airline currently serves passengers on six continents and operates the world’s largest fleet of Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 wide-body aircraft.

Emirates last year announced investments of more than US$2 billion in products and services to ensure the continuous upgrade of its passengers’ travel experience.

The airline has also undertaken its largest fleet upgrade project focusing on the complete renewal of cabins on 120 aircraft, as well as the installation of Premium Economy seats.

Moreover, Ghanim mentioned that Emirates is currently in the process of recruiting more pilots and crew.

“We want to go pre-covid capacity and we are trying to expand more and more… All this business needs the right number of headcounts in our company to provide the right service,” he said.

Emirates employs more than 280 Greek nationals across the group.