Dimitris Gerogiannis

Aegean Airlines grew passenger traffic on its domestic and foreign routes by 8 percent in April to May compared with last year, starting the summer season on a strong footing, Greece's largest carrier said on Tuesday.

Aegean, a member of the Star Alliance airline group, flies a young fleet of 61 aircraft, mostly Airbus A320 jets.

Aegean Airlines swung to a loss in the first half of 2016 due to weak demand at home and a value-added tax increase, Greece's largest carrier said on Monday.

The company reported a net loss of 23.7 million euros in the first half of the year, versus a profit of 14.8 million in the same period last year.

Sales were flat, at 403.5 million euros.

Aegean Airlines announced on Thursday that its consolidated revenue grew 8.0% to 983 million euros in 2015 compared with the previous year and that passenger traffic grew 15% to 11.6 million.

Net pre-tax earnings went up 6.0% to 100.3 million euros, while net after tax earnings fell 15% to 68.4 million euros due to increased tax burden.

Leading Greek airline Aegean and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. entered a new partnership to bring a selection of exclusive benefits to their award-winning loyalty programs – Miles+Bonus and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG®).