AEGEAN signs 5 billion euro deal for new Airbus planes

Greece's leading airline AEGEAN, signed a $ 5 billion deal with Airbus for the order of up to 42 new generations’ aircraft on Friday.

The agreement was signed at a ceremony held at the company's maintenance hangar at the Athens International Airport that was attended by top Greek government officials, senior political leaders, diplomats and business leaders.

The investment represents the largest private investment in Greece and enhances growth prospects for the company, Greek tourism and the country overall, the company said in a statement.

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.

In order for AEGEAN to support the training and further development of its flight crew, it plans to invest 30 million euros over the next 24 months for the construction of a 12.000 square meter training center at the 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.

Eftichios Vassilakis, Chairman of AEGEAN, in the occasion of the event said, "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.”