Significant major initiative for the whole year.
A pilot pilot project with the introduction of SKY Express with a further expansion of the SKY Express service in the winter months, with the aim of increasing tourist traffic during the winter months and spreading the number of visitors to more destinations in the country. This is the dual objective set by SKY express, which has built its own success story having achieved tremendous growth in key industry indicators, strengthening the Greek economy.
The company is innovating and moving forward from this season with the first, pilot programme in Crete as part of its initiative to promote the country throughout the year. Responding to a long-standing issue for the tourism industry in our country, Greek airline SKY express is supporting the engine of the Greek economy and moving forward with the first step to extend the season in one of the country’s top destinations. In Crete on the Paris – Heraklion Airport – Paris Airport route, flights will continue this year after the end of the summer season, throughout November. As part of the initiative to extend the season, SKY express is using the synergies of the IOGR Group hotel – to which it belongs – which will also extend its operation after the end of the summer season. Indeed, the airline’s staff are calling on other hoteliers on the island to make a similar move. It should be noted that it is precisely in the context of this initiative that special rates/packages are being offered to tour operators in France.
Specifically, the choice of France and the Paris-Heraklion connection, which will be extended until November with two weekly flights, is based on the fact that the French market is one of the most active and dynamic for Greece in recent years. Gerasimos Skaltsas, Chief Commercial Officer of SKY express says: “With this initiative SKY express creates the conditions for achieving a central national objective in the field of tourism, the extension of the tourist season. We are optimistic that our pilot action will bring significant benefits and can gradually be expanded on an even larger scale both in Crete and in other regions of our country.”
The new initiative has the support of the Hellenic Tourism Organisation and as stated by the General Secretary Mr. Dimitris Fragakis: “The extension of the tourist season is a central priority for the Hellenic Tourism Organisation. Our partnerships in Greece and abroad are aimed at this, which is why we support the SKY express initiative in view of this November. We believe that the action of the Greek airline can significantly contribute to increasing the traffic from the French market to Greece and Crete in particular, and at the same time can contribute to boosting the income of the local community by extending the season by one month. The cooperation between the Greek National Tourism Organisation and SKY express has already borne fruit in the past period and I am optimistic that this initiative will be equally productive. With such actions and in cooperation with local communities we can all together create the conditions for year-round tourism, which is the ultimate goal.”
It should be noted here that SKY express, together with the Greek National Tourism Organisation, is completing the annual co-advertising programme for the promotion of Greece, with over 20 million tourists – consumers across Europe watching advertisements for the Greek tourist product. With a strategically planned joint advertising program, GNTO and SKY express promoted the country continuously for 12 months, achieving the goal of continuous advertising presence of the country abroad through 6 campaigns in online and offline media. The positive results of this programme are also reflected in the performance of the target markets:
– In the winter of 2023, the five main target markets namely France, Italy, Germany, Belgium and Great Britain recorded an annual increase in passengers of 74%.
– In summer 2023, the annual growth rate of demand from these markets reached 73%.
– More than 20 million tourist-consumers watched SKY express’ advertising campaigns across Europe.
The success story continues on domestic routes as well, as for 2024 SKY express, especially for popular Greek summer destinations such as the Cyclades, Dodecanese, Eastern Aegean and Ionian Islands, is strengthening the domestic tourism product by offering additional seats, with an increase of 11%. It is the only Greek airline that flies to 33 Greek destinations, while at the same time it steadily serves an ever-expanding network of 15 European destinations.
At the same time, it has a huge strategic advantage by having the youngest fleet of aircraft in Greece and one of the most environmentally friendly, with an average age of 3.1 years for Airbus neo aircraft and 1.6 years for ATR 72-600 aircraft. It should be noted that SKY express’s fleet will have a total of 27 aircraft by 2024.