Today, AEGEAN marks 25 years of dynamic growth and celebrates with its passengers, its people, and all those who have contributed to its successful journey while pursuing the vision of its founder Theodoros Vassilakis, to create a flag carrier that will travel Greek culture and passengers with safety, consistency, and quality across Greece and abroad.
Starting in 1999, with just two aircraft and with the vigorous effort of its people, the support of its shareholders and, above all, the trust and appreciation of its Greek and foreign passengers, AEGEAN is today one of the most consistently successful and steadily growing companies in the European aviation market, despite the consecutive crises and challenges that the industry has faced throughout the years.
During its 25 years of operation, several milestones significantly contributed to its development. Indicatively: AEGEAN's listing on the Athens Stock Exchange, the Star Alliance membership, the acquisition of Olympic Air, the order of 46 Airbus A320 neo family aircraft, the largest private investment in Greece, which recently increased to 50 aircraft, and the creation of the first modern Flight Simulation and Crew Training Centre in Greece, in one of the first 'green' hangars in Europe, at Athens International Airport. An investment with a positive impact on both the company and the country. While recently embarking on the next major growth cycle with the order of four new A321neo LR aircraft that will cover distances of up to 7,5 hours, from Greece to the Gulf regions, India, and Central Africa, allowing AEGEAN to offer passengers a new level of comfort and service to distant, non-EU destinations.
During this journey, AEGEAN has preserved the values and unique experience of the first generation of its people, while continuously investing in the development and perspective of the younger generation and all together in the sustainable future of the aviation industry in Greece.
Currently, AEGEAN employs more than 3,700 people and operates 76 aircraft to 156 destinations with 249 direct routes to 47 countries, constantly strengthening its network, both domestically and internationally, providing a unique travel experience to its passengers, inextricably linked to Greek hospitality. For 2023, AEGEAN, offered 18,5 million seats, increased by 3,1 million compared to 2022, while carrying 15,5 million passengers, 3,2 million more than the previous year, achieving a 26% increase, recording a new high record.
Mr. Eftichios Vassilakis, Chairman of AEGEAN, said: '25 years since our first flight, the conditions, sizes and challenges in our industry are very different, but our goal remains the same. To keep working in order to offer every day, every year an enhanced, unique, new travel experience that will not only accelerate our passenger's trip but also meet their expectations and needs while flying with AEGEAN. I strongly believe that Theodoros Vassilakis' vision of quality and reliability is today deep in the culture of all our people. As we move towards our next growth cycle, the challenge for the new generation of our people, a significantly larger team with great potential, is to remain innovative, agile, and competitive in order to meet new challenges, to generate new, fresh ideas while preserving our core values and to remain committed to our growth strategy, that supports and contributes to the Greek tourism and brand name. Thank you for choosing AEGEAN'.
Mr. Dimitris Gerogiannis, CEO, said: 'Thank you for your preference, trust, and appreciation to AEGEAN and its people over the past 25 years. Thank you for the warmth, respect, and recognition with which you greet our crews and staff on our aircraft, at our ticket counters, in our lounges, at our call center, in the airports-wherever you meet us on your journeys and enjoy our services. Since our first flight, we intend to offer you exceptionally services with the same passion, professionalism, quality, commitment to excellence, and hospitality. For 25 years, every day, on every flight, we have strived to deliver with safety and consistently a quality product that meets and exceeds your expectations embodying the culture of hospitality that is in our DNA. The main reason we achieved this, is entirely thanks to the dedication, consistency, ethos, and passion of our people-all those who have worked to bring AEGEAN to the heart of its passengers, and all those who are working today or will work tomorrow to plan and lead AEGEAN into the next growth cycle. We aim to design and offer an even better travel experience on an even larger network. In the competitive and ever-challenging environment of our industry, we remain focused standing firmly on our feet, yet always with the same enthusiasm, ambition, and vision as 25 years ago. Our goal is to take AEGEAN even further and remain your preferred choice.'
STAR ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL CORP. 
