Aegean Airlines joins Star Alliance network

    
    Connecting Greece to the World
    Improved Access to Greek Vacation Hotspots
    

ATHENS, Greece, June 30 /CNW Telbec/ - At a ceremony held in Athens today, Aegean Airlines was accepted into the Star Alliance network as the 28th member.

Aegean Airlines' joining Star Alliance comes into effect just as Air Canada, a founding member of Star Alliance, earlier this month launched non-stop flights from both Toronto and Montreal to Athens for the summer season. Air Canada's six weekly non-stop flights to Athens are timed to offer customers convenient connections with Aegean Airlines flights in Athens to many popular destinations including Thessaloniki, Crete (Heraklion), Rhodes and Cyprus (Larnaca).

In addition, Aeroplan members now have the ability to earn status miles and redeem reward travel on Aegean Airlines; and Air Canada Top Tier members have the ability to access Star Alliance Gold and Silver benefits, including lounge and priority services.

Theodore Vassilakis, Chairman of Aegean Airlines said: "Joining Star Alliance is an honour and a great opportunity for Aegean. As of today our customers will enjoy recognition, loyalty benefits and end-on-end global service that Star Alliance is renowned for. At the same time, there will be a 'star' on the map, showing that services and access to Greece have been significantly upgraded."

Aegean Airlines completed the integration and systems upgrade process in a short 12 months, following its acceptance as future member in May 2009.

Jaan Albrecht, CEO Star Alliance said: "AEGEAN brings a wealth of experience and an extensive domestic and international route network to the alliance family. For alliance members, Greece is an important travel market where Athens can be built into a major hub airport with growing connection traffic. It has already become an important player in the Southeast European area and we fully expect entry into Star Alliance will support its further development."

Connecting Greece to the World

Greece is of strategic importance due to its geographic position in the eastern Mediterranean, acting as the main southeastern access point into the European Union. With AEGEAN, the Star Alliance network to/from/within Greece now covers more than 1,500 weekly flights to 69 destinations in 27 countries.

Moreover, the large Greek communities spread across more than 100 countries - such as the U.S, the U.K., Australia, Germany and Canada - now enjoy the advantages provided by an airline alliance when visiting friends and families.

Also, the business community in Greece will now be able to make use of Star Alliance Frequent Flyer benefits both on domestic flights, as well as on multiple carrier itineraries when travelling across Europe and overseas.

Greece is also an important meetings and conventions market. Hence, the inclusion of AEGEAN into both Star Alliance Convention Plus and Meetings Plus will provide for new business opportunities.

Improved Access to Greek Vacation Hotspots

Greece is undoubtedly one of the most sought after vacation destinations. Not only will AEGEAN provide seamless travel to over 17 domestic destinations, but through the inclusion of these in the Star Alliance Europe Airpass, as well as in the very popular Round-the-World fare, flights to these destinations are now available at very attractive prices. By the same token, Frequent Flyers can redeem their miles to travel to this wide array of new destinations in the Star Alliance network.

Publicly listed Aegean Airlines began operations some 11 years ago and now operates a fleet of 30 aircraft covering a total of 54 domestic and international routes on more than 150 daily flights. Specifically, 26 routes in Greece are covered, as well as another 28 international routes. Since 2008, AEGEAN has become the largest Greek airline in terms of passengers.

    
    About Star Alliance:
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The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award, Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Air India has been announced as a future member. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers over 21,200 daily flights to 1,172 airports in 181 countries.

    
    About Aegean Airlines:
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Aegean Airlines is the largest Greek carrier, carrying 6.6 million passengers in 2009, an increase of 10% over 2008. After taking delivery of 22 new Airbus A320/321, the company operates a fleet of 30 aircraft. Within its ten year scheduled services history AEGEAN has been awarded six times by the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) in recognition of its operating performance, commercial success and commitment to customer comfort and satisfaction. Additionally, AEGEAN has been repeatedly awarded by the Athens International Airport as the single largest contributor to the airport's passenger growth. AEGEAN has also received the Skytrax World Airline award as the best regional airline in Europe for 2009. In February 2010 the shareholders of Aegean and recently privatized and re-fleeted Olympic Air entered into an agreement that, once approved by EC authorities, will eventually lead to the merging of the two companies.

For further information: Star Alliance Press Office: Tel: [phone], Fax: [phone], Email: [email protected]; www.staralliance.com; Aegean Airlines Press Office: Tel: [phone], Fax: [phone], Email: [email protected]; www.aegeanair.com; Air Canada: Isabelle Arthur (Montréal), [phone]; Peter Fitzpatrick (Toronto), [phone]; Angela Mah (Vancouver), [phone], Email: [email protected]; www.aircanada.com