AEGEAN invests in its future growth and development
Official signing of the purchase agreement with Airbus for the order of up to 42 new generation aircraft of the A320neo family, valued at 5 billion USD at list prices happened on 22nd June with an additional investment of €30 million in developing a new training center for the future generation of flight crews.
AEGEAN announced that the signing ceremony with Airbus for the order of up to 42 new generation aircraft of the A320neo family took place at the company’s maintenance hangar at the Athens International Airport on June 22nd. The purchase agreement was signed by Mr. Eftichios Vassilakis, Chairman of AEGEAN, Airbus Chief Executive Officer Mr. Tom Enders and AEGEAN Chief Executive Officer Mr. Dimitris Gerogiannis.
The investment, valued at 5 billion USD at list prices, represents the largest private investment in Greece and enhances growth prospects for the company, Greek tourism and the country overall. The new aircraft will offer upgraded services to passengers and the ability to reach longer range destinations. The new generation engines contribute significantly in enhancing the company’s competitiveness due to fuel savings and reduced carbon emissions.
Furthermore, AEGEAN in order to support the training and further development of its flight crew plans to invest €30M, over the next 24 months for the construction of a 12.000m2 Training Center at Athens International Airport. The center will provide purpose-built classrooms as well as state-of-the-art flight simulators that will cover the total training needs of AEGEAN pilots and cabin crew members.
As part of this investment, AEGEAN is also launching a scholarship program for 100 pilot cadets in 2018-2019 in order to provide financial support to cover the initial training costs required for becoming a pilot.
Mr. Eftichios Vassilakis, Chairman of AEGEAN, in the occasion of the event stated: “AEGEAN was established 19 years ago with the vision of creating a high quality carrier in Greece, focusing on the needs of the passengers. We are very proud today, to be implementing a dual investment on new generation Airbus A320neo aircraft, as well as to the development of our people.”
Mr. Dimitris Gerogiannis, CEO of AEGEAN, said: “By investing in state-of-the-art Airbus A320 aircraft and an even more modern, comprehensive and scalable training infrastructure, we set another important milestone for our company. We firmly believe that it is mainly our people, and not just the new “metal”, that sets AEGEAN apart from the competition.”
Mr. Tom Enders, Chief Executive Officer of Airbus, noted: “AEGEAN Airlines is a great example of a resilient and superbly managed airline. It has weathered the country’s financial crisis and come out of it much stronger than before. Moreover, AEGEAN’s customer focus and attention to service excellence have made the company one of the most awarded airlines in terms of customer satisfaction. We are extremely proud AEGEAN has selected Airbus to boost the efficiency of their future fleet.”