Aegean Airlines

A formation of four Turkish fighter jets violated Greek air space in the northeastern and central Aegean on Thursday, the latest in a series of transgressions.

The Turkish aircraft, two of which were armed, violated the Athens Flight Information Region once and Greek national air space five times, according to Greek defense officials who said there was one dogfight.

A formation of two armed Turkish fighter jets entered the Athens Flight Information Region once and Greece's national air space four times by flying over the northeastern and central Aegean, on Monday.

The craft were chased off by Greek pilots.

Five Turkish military jets reportedly violated Greek air space in the central and southeastern Aegean on eight occasions on Friday, authorities said.

The fighter jets also entered the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR) five times.

None of the aircraft was armed, authorities added.
 

Over 88,000 Greek passengers booked air flights online via the airtickets website for the 3 months in summer. According to the website’s data, the majority of the Greeks (69%) chose domestic destinations for their holidays, with Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Rhodes, Chania and Santorini being on the top of their list of preferences.

Greece is currently facing a number of direct challenges in matters regarding national security and foreign policy.

On the other side of the Aegean, Turkey is going through a period of intense instability and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is becoming increasingly unpredictable.

The Greek military says that two helicopters and one fighter jet violated international aviation rules, entering the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR) in the southeastern Aegean on Friday.

They were not armed and authorities said they were intercepted and chased away. There were no dogfights.

Dozens of Greek domestic flights are to be canceled after the union representing aviation workers, OSYPA, called a strike from 10 a.m. on Thursday to midnight on Friday.

Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air said they were canceling around 70 flights.

Passengers due to travel should contact their airlines for information.

Four Turkish fighter jets flying in formation entered the Athens Flight Information Region (FIR) between the eastern Aegean islands of Lesvos and Chios Tuesday, authorities said.

According to the National Defense General Staff (GEETHA), the Turkish jets broke formation after entering the FIR at 2.33 p.m. and one pair flew over the islet of Anthropofagoi at 10,000 feet at 2.57 p.m.

The airline industry is crying foul over government practices that are hampering its growth, with Aegean Air vice chairman Eftychis Vassilakis attributing the stagnation in the carrier's figures to increased taxes and charges and the poor official response to the migrant crisis.

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.