Aegean Easter flights reach over 75 percent capacity

The news in Greek

1. επιβάτης  (m.)
   άτομο που ταξιδεύει με κάποιο μέσο μεταφοράς, όπως αεροπλάνο, πλοίο ή λεωφορείο ↩︎
2. πτήση  (f.)
   ταξίδι με αεροπλάνο από ένα μέρος σε ένα άλλο, σε συγκεκριμένη μέρα και ώρα ↩︎
3. σχεδόν
   πολύ κοντά σε κάτι, αλλά όχι εντελώς ή όχι 100% ↩︎
4. εξωτερικό  (n.)
   οι ξένες χώρες, χώρες έξω από τη δική μας χώρα ↩︎
5. προορισμός  (m.)
   το μέρος όπου κάποιος πηγαίνει σε ένα ταξίδι ↩︎
6. ταξιδιώτης  (m.)
   άτομο που ταξιδεύει από ένα μέρος σε άλλο ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: When are the Aegean Airlines flights in the article especially busy?

Question 2: What do travelers do early according to the article?

Vocabulary

Greek	English
επιβάτης  (m.)	passenger
πτήση  (f.)	flight
σχεδόν	almost
εξωτερικό  (n.)	abroad
προορισμός  (m.)	destination
ταξιδιώτης  (m.)	traveller

Read the full story

Greece’s flag carrier Aegean Airlines is reporting very strong demand for Easter 2026 travel, with the average seat occupancy on its flights already above 75% across both domestic and international routes.

According to company data, overall passenger traffic is at levels similar to last year’s Easter period. Several routes, mainly on the international network, are expected to exceed 85% capacity. This shows that, despite wider geopolitical uncertainty, travellers remain keen to fly during one of the most important holidays in the Greek calendar.

Airline representatives note that the recent outbreak of war in the Middle East has caused an increase in cancellations on routes to that region. However, demand from Greek passengers has not decreased overall. Instead, it appears to have shifted towards other destinations, especially to the Iberian Peninsula (such as Spain and Portugal), Morocco and the Nordic countries.

Last year, Catholic and Orthodox Easter fell on the same dates, which helped boost total passenger numbers, as many Europeans travelled at the same time. This year, the two religious celebrations do not coincide. Even so, Aegean reports that bookings remain at roughly the same level as the previous Easter season, suggesting stable demand for holiday travel.

From Athens International Airport, the top five international Easter destinations in terms of bookings are Stockholm, Helsinki, Bologna, Luxembourg and Bilbao. Within Greece, the most popular domestic routes from Athens are to the islands and regional cities of Karpathos, Samos, Alexandroupoli, Leros and Ioannina.

From Thessaloniki, northern Greece’s main hub, the leading international destinations are Barcelona, Brussels, Milan, Larnaca in Cyprus and Rome. On the domestic network, the top five from Thessaloniki are some of Greece’s best-known holiday islands: Kos, Santorini, Limnos, Rhodes and Mykonos.

Demand is not evenly spread across all days. Aegean identifies specific peak travel days. On the domestic network from Athens, traffic is expected to be particularly high on Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Orthodox Easter), when seat occupancy is projected to reach around 82%. For international flights from Athens, the busiest day is expected to be Easter Monday, with load factors of about 87%.

The pattern is similar, but even more pronounced, in Thessaloniki. On Easter Monday, domestic flights from the city are expected to reach around 72% capacity, while international routes on the same day may approach an estimated 96% occupancy, indicating very limited remaining seats on some flights.

Data from the airline suggest that many Greek travellers book early for Easter, particularly for international trips and other periods of strong demand. This behaviour helps secure seats and often lower fares. At the same time, Aegean indicates that there are still available options for late planners. Travellers can reportedly still find seats to several popular European cities, including London, Paris, Rome, Prague, Zagreb and Dubrovnik.

For language learners and observers outside Greece, these figures offer an insight into how Easter remains a major travel season in the country. Even when international events disrupt certain routes, the overall appetite for both domestic island getaways and European city breaks around Orthodox Easter appears to stay consistently high.

Info: “Greek Learner News” is a service from “Let’s Learn Greek”, a language school dedicated to teaching Greek through various types of online courses, where we share resources on topics such as how to learn Greek fast. It is intended for learners who wish to improve their skills in a structured way, with guidance suitable for different levels.