AEGEAN: Where will the Greeks travel on Easter – High occupancy rates in Heraklion and Chania

Full flights, increased passenger traffic throughout the AEGEAN network and maintaining the preference for destinations that until recently were considered “outsiders”, are the main characteristics of this year’s Easter passenger traffic, with the mass departure of passengers from the two largest AEGEAN bases in Athens and Thessaloniki to start as early as the weekend and to peak just in the middle of Holy Week. Morocco leads the list of Greek travelers’ preferences, with tickets to the flights to Marrakech sold out for weeks, while Malaga, Naples, and even Stockholm are constantly gaining passenger preference. Corfu remains a favorite Easter destination in Greece, with Ikaria and Sitia being this year’s pleasant “surprise” due to the high occupancy rates on flights.

Below is a summary of selected data on passenger traffic on the AEGEAN network during the Easter holidays

In particular, at domestic network from the AEGEAN base in Athenaflights from April 26th to Holy Saturday record an occupancy rate of over 80%, while the return traffic already records an occupancy rate of over 90% and peaks on Tuesday, May 7th, where the May Day holiday is also transferred.

The evolution of traffic from the company’s second largest base in Thessalonikiwhere in the domestic network occupancy rates are high, reaching 90% with return flights already full.

In the foreign network from its International Airport of Athensthe occupancies are quite increased compared to the corresponding period last year, starting from 75% to 82% with the traffic peaking from the middle of Holy Week, while from the airport “Macedonia» the average occupancy of international flights ranges from 80% to 86%.

Top domestic destinations from the two largest bases of Athens and Thessaloniki:

Top foreign destinations from the two largest bases of Athens and Thessaloniki:

In fact, flights to and from Marrakesh for weeks have been almost 100% full during the Easter days.

Also, itineraries, such as Athens – Thessaloniki, Athens – Heraklion, Athens – Rhodes and Athens – Chania tend to gather correspondingly high occupancy rates, although the company taking special care of the movements of special categories of passengers such as students, military, teachers, etc. has significantly increased the number of seats offered by adding additional frequencies.

In addition, examining the individual data, but also the choices of travelers during the 3 days and holidays of this year, it is found that now Greeks have the tendency to choose less prominent or crowded destinations, and to “try” new travel experiences, while they booked their tickets well in advance, taking advantage of the offers.

However, even today one can find “last minute deals” for various destinations, such as Warsaw, Cairo, Bristol, or Munich in the international network, but also for specific flights to Paros, Milos and also Mykonos on the domestic network.

However, this year’s Easter shows similar dynamics and demand compared to last year, despite the fact that in 2023 Catholic and Orthodox Easter were only one week apart, unlike this year where the interval was much longer, reflecting the increased mood and dynamics of Greek travelers.