Greek carrier Aegean Airlines is hoping to bring in more third-party MRO customers, after attracting some of Europe’s largest airlines in the first year since opening Aegean Technics’ new facilities at Athens Airport.
“We're very much in the early stages of the development of our capabilities, in terms of people and our client base,” Aegean Chairman Eftichios Vassilakis said on a March 18 results call. “But it's very important to note that, even in this first year, we have had some of the larger airline groups in Europe send us aircraft for maintenance. It could be a trial, but I think we did quite well in serving those first major customers.”
Aegean is now hoping to translate this early interest into long-term repeat business, validating the €140 million ($151 million) MRO and training investment that it first announced at the end of 2022. Work on the new MRO facilities began in June 2023, in time for a summer 2024 opening. While the majority of the capital expenditure has now been completed, the MRO unit is not expected to contribute to Aegean’s profitability until two- or three-years post launch.
“Actually, it’s going to add to our costs, to some degree,” Vassilakis said. “We're always building our capacity ahead [of time], in terms of people in order to train them, and to set up our whole structure to accommodate potential demand.”
Part of the cost includes a further €46 million payable to Athens Airport for the concession between now and 2032.
The Athens airport facilities—which were previously used by Olympic Air, before lying idle for over a decade—cover 25,500m² (275,000 ft.2), with up to 10 technical control positions for various aircraft types, along with a 2,300m² (25,000 ft.2) spare parts warehouse.
After performing a comprehensive reconstruction of the abandoned hangar, including adding solar panels to power the facility, Aegean opened to third-party business in 2024. Over the first 5-7 years of the MRO and training project, it is expected to deliver more than 1,100 new direct and indirect high-skilled jobs.
As part of its MRO push, Aegean is also offering an aircraft engineer training scholarship program. In February 2025, the Greek airline closed its latest call for candidates, building on a scheme which it has had in place since 2022. The latest cohort will begin their 24-month training program on April 28, which includes on-the-job training at Aegean’s new technical base, followed by potential employment at Aegean Technics after trainees obtain their licenses.
The first 27 graduates from the 2022 engineering scholarship program joined Aegean Technics in October 2024 and the MRO facility is expecting to increase its engineering headcount by roughly 10% per year to reach 600-700 people within five years.
Meanwhile, Aegean is continuing to feel the effects of the powdered metal issues that are driving accelerated inspections of its Airbus A320neo fleet. This caused a “material” net impact of over €20 million on Aegean’s 2024 financial results.
“2024 was the first full year where we had to face these groundings,” Vassilakis said. “The GTF issue is going to be with us for another two years.”
Aegean peaked at eight grounded A320neo family aircraft in 2024, and the figure now stands at nine or 10, as of March 2025. “This number will probably increase by 2-3 aircraft by the end of Q4 and will peak at around 13 or 14 aircraft somewhere in 2026,” Vassilakis said.
However, Aegean is receiving an average of five A320neo family aircraft each year with upgraded engines, reducing the overall operational impact. By 2027, Aegean’s engine issues should be fully resolved.
As part of its compensation agreement with Pratt & Whitney, Aegean has been given access to engines at discounted rates.
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