The new connection will start operations in Summer 2024, linking the Greek capital to the Italian coastal city with direct routes twice a week, bringing the total number of destinations offered by the airline in 2024 from Athens to 21.
The airline announced the new route weeks after sharing its strong growth plans for Athens International Airport in 2024, where it is set to increase its capacity by 23% compared to 2023 and 142% compared to its base opening in 2018, reaching over 835,000 available seats.
Barcelona, December 5th, 2023 – Volotea, the airline connecting small and mid-sized European cities, has announced a new route from Athens to Ancona, starting operations on June 2nd, 2024, with twice-weekly frequencies on Wednesdays and Sundays and offering 13,000 seats on sale. This brings the total number of routes provided by the airline in 2024 from Athens International Airport to 21 and follows the company’s recent announcement of new connections to Naples, Split, and Brest from the Greek Capital.
Volotea recently hosted a press conference in Athens in November to share its strong growth plans for the region in 2024, where it is set to increase its capacity by 23% compared to 2023 and 142% compared to its base opening in 2018, reaching over 835,000 available seats. The airline also confirmed that it will maintain its fleet of two aircraft at the base, ensuring stable local job opportunities with a staff of 80 direct employees and over 450 indirect employees for the upcoming year.
“We are very happy to enhance our offerings for Summer 2024 at Athens International Airport. With this new connection, we’re bridging the gap between Greece and Italy, making it effortless for travelers to plan a convenient and enjoyable weekend getaway to explore the charming Italian Marche Region from Athens. This expansion adds to our portfolio of 21 destinations accessible from Athens International Airport, and we are committed to enhancing connectivity for our passengers in the Greek capital,” said Valeria Rebasti, International Market Director Italy, Greece, Germany & Southeastern Europe of Volotea.
“A story of continuous success, Volotea’s investment in Athens keeps producing fantastic results: This coming summer, travelers will have the exciting opportunity to explore a new destination, Ancona, a city filled with beautiful places to visit, and a wide variety of flavors to savor. Adding to recently announced routes to Naples, Brest, and Split, Volotea is now ready to offer its biggest ever network from our airport; on our part, we remain firmly committed to further strengthening our close partnership with Volotea as they continue their highly successful growth in the Athens market!” added Ioanna Papadopoulou, Director of Communications & Marketing at Athens International Airport.
Since 2012, Volotea has firmly established itself in Greece, currently operating across an extensive network of 13 Greek airports, encompassing Athens, Cefalonia, Corfu, Heraklion/Crete, Kalamata, Karpathos, Mykonos, Preveza/Lefkada, Rhodes, Santorini, Skiathos, Thessaloniki, and Zakynthos. Throughout 2023, the company has experienced substantial growth in the market, introducing eight new routes connecting key Greek airports to domestic and international destinations, such as Athens to Toulouse and Cagliari, Santorini to Bilbao and Palermo, Heraklion to Bordeaux, Rhodes to Nantes, Kalamata to Nantes, and Karpathos to Naples. From January to October 2023, the airline facilitated travel for over 1.2 million passengers to and from the country, with 47% of this passenger volume linked to Athens Airport.
In 2024, the company plans to offer over 1.6 million seats in the country, a 13% increase compared to 2023, and introduce, on top of the new Athens routes, five new routes from Greek destinations, connecting Corfu, Kalamata, and Rhodes to Lille, as well as Kalamata and Rhodes to Lyon.
ABOUT VOLOTEA
Volotea was founded in 2011 by Carlos Muñoz and Lázaro Ros, also previously founders of Vueling. It is one of the fastest-growing independent airlines in Europe in the last decade, increasing its fleet, routes served, and seats offered year-on-year. This year, the airline has celebrated a milestone of carrying 55 million passengers throughout its network.
Volotea reaches more than 100 airports and is currently based in 19 medium-sized European capitals: Asturias, Athens, Bilbao, Bordeaux, Cagliari, Florence (new in 2023), Hamburg, Lille, Lyon, Lourdes, Marseille, Nantes, Naples, Olbia, Palermo, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Venice, and Verona. The airline has announced its 20th base in Europe and 9th in France in the city of Brest, Brittany, with operations starting in April 2024.
In 2024, Volotea will operate more than 450 routes (with over half exclusive), offer close to 13.3M seats (+18% versus 2023), and fly approximately 78,000 flights. The airline operates a fleet of 41 Airbus A319 and A320.
Volotea is working towards achieving a more sustainable future in aviation and has committed to reducing 50% of its CO2 emissions per passenger and kilometer by 2025 (versus 2012), 5 years before than the original target. To date, Volotea has launched over 50 sustainability initiatives that have already driven a reduction in carbon footprint per passenger and kilometer by more than 45%. Since 2022, the company has been working on developing emission-free alternative technologies, operating Airbus’ internal shuttle service with 34% of sustainable aviation fuel, and collaborating with manufacturers and the industry so that these fuels (now difficult to access) can be developed and become widespread as soon as possible.
Volotea, with a workforce of 1,820 employees, actively boosts connectivity within the territories where it is based, while contributing to their economic development and enriching the cultural landscape through impactful sponsorship projects.
Volotea was recognized by Skytrax in its global passenger satisfaction survey as the “Best Low-Cost Airline in Europe” at the 2023 World Airline Awards, referred to by media around the world as “the Oscars of the aviation industry.” The airline adds this accolade to its growing list of achievements, which includes consecutive wins for “Leading European Low-Cost Airline” at the World Travel Awards in 2021 and 2022.
