8 out of 10 passengers from Athens choose a getaway to destinations abroad, while from Thessaloniki they are divided between domestic and foreign
There will be increased traffic at the main airports of the country during the three days of Maundy Monday and March 25, with Greeks finding an opportunity for a short escape, mainly abroad and especially in northern European cities and not only cities, as at least recorded by the data of Aegean and its bases in Athens and Thessaloniki.
Clear Monday
Traffic for the three days of Maundy Monday both from the Athens air base and from the Thessaloniki base appears to be very satisfactory, with occupancies reaching and in some cases exceeding 75% so far. While last-minute bookings exhaust the last available seats. Greek passengers, departing from Athens, show a greater preference for short getaways abroad (more than 80% of the total passenger traffic of the three-day period concerns international flights), while passengers from Thessaloniki show the same preference, both for destinations of external, as well as internal.
The traffic to international destinations from Athens and Thessaloniki is observed on Thursday and Friday, with a return mainly on Clean Monday, March 18, but also on Tuesday, March 19. As it seems, the three days of Clean Monday was an occasion for some, either to start earlier, or to extend their holidays and stay more than 3 days in the destination of their choice.
Top international destinations from the two largest bases of Athens and Thessaloniki
From Athens airport, Greek travelers will go to Oslo, Bologna, Geneva, Amsterdam and Lisbon, while from Thessaloniki they will go to Frankfurt, Berlin, Larnaca, Munich and Dusseldorf.
Top domestic destinations from the two largest bases of Athens and Thessaloniki
Now as far as domestic destinations are concerned, from El. Venizelos goes to Naxos, Skiathos, Santorini, Leros and Sitia, while from Macedonia airport they go to Chios, Mytilini, Kos, Heraklion and Limnos.
From the above the fact can be deduced, that now Greeks have the tendency to travel and explore less prominent destinations, even completely new, but also more economical ones. Instead of choosing Paris, London or Rome, they prefer, for example, Oslo, Bologna, Munich, Dusseldorf, Geneva, etc., while in the domestic destinations it is impressive that in the top 5 of their choices islands appear, destinations increasingly and closer to summer.
Fullness on Aegean aircraft on March 25
So far, the occupancy rates for the three days of March 25 reach 70% for both the flights from the Athens base and from the Thessaloniki base. Of course, they are expected to increase significantly as we get closer to that date. Greek passengers departing from Athens show a greater preference for short getaways abroad (more than 2/3 of the total passengers go to foreign destinations), while passengers from Thessaloniki seem to choose both foreign and domestic destinations internal.
