Greece’s largest carrier Aegean Airlines said on Thursday its passenger numbers rose 70% in July and August compared to the same period in 2020 as tourism rebounded after last year’s slump.

Aegean, a member of the Star Alliance airline group, said the increase in passengers improved its load factor to 71.7% but it remained lower than the 82.7% level it reached in 2019, a record year for tourism in Greece before the outbreak of the pandemic.

The airline said it flew more than 2.3 million passengers in the July-August period, meaning the number topped the passenger traffic of the previous six months.

Passenger traffic on flights abroad jumped 108% compared to the same months last year, reaching 1.2 million passengers.

Reuters