Aegean investing EUR140m to create 'aviation ecosystem' in Athens

Aegean announced (21-Dec-2022) it will invest EUR140 million to establish Greece's first MRO and flight simulator facility. The group entered an MoU with Athens International Airport for the long term lease of Olympic Air's previous 85,000sqm technical base at the airport. The MRO centre will comprise a technical base of up to 10 maintenance, repair and technical control positions for various types of aircraft. The simulation and training centre for pilots and cabin crew will feature up to six flight simulators for the main airline type and facilities for cabin crew training. Olympic Air's existing engineering training school and Aegean's pilot training centre will join the facility. The investment is expected to create over 1100 new direct and indirect high skilled jobs over a five to seven year period and deliver a contribution of over EUR450 million during the concession period. Aegean also plans to install 35,000sqm of photovoltaic panels with capacity of 4.4GWh p/a to create one of the first 'green' hangars in Europe. Aegean chairman Eftichios Vassilakis commented: "We are creating a hub, an aviation ecosystem for maintenance and training services, with significant added value for the local aviation industry and strong extroversion potential while filling a significant gap in the entire aviation industry". [more - original PR]