EU Regulation 261/2004 is European law that gives air passengers enforceable rights when their flights are significantly disrupted. It applies to delays, cancellations, and denied boarding, and provides fixed compensation amounts that are not linked to ticket price:

For Aegean Airlines, the relevant compensation bands are primarily €250 (Greek domestic and short European routes) and €400 (longer European routes to London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, and Middle Eastern destinations). Aegean's route network stays largely within 3,500 km of Athens, so the €600 band rarely applies to Aegean's own-operated flights.

The airline can only escape the compensation obligation by proving that an extraordinary circumstance caused the disruption and that the disruption could not have been avoided even with all reasonable measures taken. Common genuine extraordinary circumstances include volcanic ash clouds, severe weather warnings, ATC strikes, and genuine security threats. Technical faults identified during routine maintenance, crew scheduling failures, and late incoming aircraft are not extraordinary circumstances.

Because Aegean Airlines is an EU carrier registered in Greece, EU261 applies to:

• All Aegean flights departing from Greek airports (ATH, SKG, HER, RHO, CFU, JMK, JTR, etc.) to any destination, whether within the EU or outside
• All Aegean flights arriving in Greece from non-EU destinations (e.g., a return flight from Tel Aviv TLV to Athens ATH)
• All Aegean flights within Europe (any European departure or arrival)

Key Aegean routes and applicable compensation bands:

• Greek domestic routes (Athens → Heraklion HER, Athens → Rhodes RHO, Athens → Thessaloniki SKG, Athens → Mykonos JMK, Athens → Santorini JTR, Athens → Corfu CFU): 200–750 km → €250
• Athens to short European routes (Athens → Rome FCO ~1,060 km, Athens → Vienna VIE ~1,280 km, Athens → Zurich ZRH ~1,965 km, Athens → Frankfurt FRA ~2,095 km): €250–€400
• Athens to London Heathrow (~2,395 km): €400
• Athens to Paris CDG (~2,090 km): €400
• Athens to Amsterdam AMS (~2,160 km): €400
• Athens to Madrid MAD (~2,425 km): €400
• Athens to Copenhagen CPH (~2,360 km): €400
• Athens to Stockholm ARN (~2,510 km): €400
• Athens to Tel Aviv TLV (~1,500 km): €400 (at the boundary)
• Athens to Beirut BEY (~1,500 km): €400
• Athens to Cairo CAI (~1,300 km): €250

Summer island routes from non-Greek EU airports: Aegean also operates seasonal routes from destinations like Amsterdam AMS → Santorini JTR or Frankfurt FRA → Rhodes RHO. These are fully covered by EU261 as an EU carrier departing from an EU airport.

1. Note your actual arrival time. Record the time your aircraft arrived at the destination gate — not when it landed. This is the legally relevant moment for determining whether the 3-hour delay threshold has been met.

2. Collect your documentation. Keep your boarding pass, e-ticket, and any delay or cancellation notifications from Aegean or the airport. Screenshots of SMS or email notifications with timestamps are valuable.

3. Calculate flight distance and compensation amount. Use a great-circle distance calculator. Greek domestic routes (under 1,500 km) qualify for €250; most European routes from Athens qualify for €400.

4. Submit a formal written claim to Aegean Airlines. Contact Aegean's Customer Relations department via the online portal on aegeanair.com or by email. Include flight number, date, delay duration, and explicitly claim compensation under Article 7 of EU Regulation 261/2004.

5. Be specific about the amount claimed. State whether you are claiming €250 or €400 based on the route distance. This prevents the airline from misapplying the lower tier.

6. Await Aegean's response. Aegean typically responds within 4–8 weeks. If the response is a rejection or there is no response after two months, escalate.

7. Escalate to the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA). The Greek NEB for EU261 is the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA / Υπηρεσία Πολιτικής Αεροπορίας — ΥΠΑ), which handles passenger complaints against Greek airlines and airlines operating from Greek airports at hcaa.gr.

Aegean Airlines S.A. was founded in 1987 and began passenger operations in 1999. Since then, it has grown to become Greece's largest airline, a feat achieved partly through the acquisition of Olympic Air in 2013, which gave Aegean a dominant position in the Greek domestic market as well as significant international route expansion.

Aegean joined the Star Alliance in 2010, giving passengers access to a global network of partner airlines including Lufthansa, Swiss, United, Singapore Airlines, and many others. This connectivity has made Athens one of the more important transit hubs for travel between Western Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East.

The Aegean fleet consists primarily of Airbus aircraft — A320 and A321 family aircraft for medium-haul operations, with A320neo and A321neo variants gradually replacing older aircraft as part of a fleet modernisation programme. The airline is known for its award-winning Business Class product on European routes and its strong commitment to on-time performance during non-peak periods.

EU261 obliges Aegean Airlines to provide passengers with care and assistance during significant disruptions, separate from the fixed compensation obligation:

• Meals and refreshments commensurate with the waiting time — typically vouchers for food and non-alcoholic drinks after a delay exceeding 2 hours (short-haul) or 3 hours (medium-haul)
• Two free communications — phone calls, emails, or faxes
• Hotel accommodation and airport–hotel transfers if stranded overnight due to a delay or cancellation
• Rebooking on the next available Aegean (or partner) flight at no charge, or a full refund if you choose not to travel

During peak summer season at Greek island airports — particularly Santorini (JTR), Mykonos (JMK), and Heraklion (HER) — delays can be lengthy and hotel availability limited. If Aegean fails to arrange accommodation and you must book independently, keep all receipts and present them as part of your claim reimbursement request.

Scenario 1: Athens to London Heathrow Delay (Medium-Haul, €400)

You are booked on Aegean Airlines flight A3 601 from Athens Eleftherios Venizelos (ATH) to London Heathrow (LHR). A ground handling problem causes the flight to depart 4 hours late, and you arrive at Heathrow 3 hours 50 minutes after the scheduled arrival. The ATH–LHR distance is approximately 2,395 km — placing it in the €400 compensation band. Ground handling problems are operational matters within the airline's or its contracted handlers' control and do not constitute extraordinary circumstances. You are entitled to €400 per passenger in fixed EU261 compensation.

Scenario 2: Athens to Mykonos Cancellation (Short-Haul, €250)

Your Aegean Airlines flight from Athens (ATH) to Mykonos (JMK) is cancelled 5 days before departure. Aegean offers a rebooking the following day. The ATH–JMK route is approximately 220 km, firmly in the under-1,500 km band. The cancellation is within 14 days and the rebooking does not meet the Article 5(1)(c) rerouting thresholds. You are entitled to €250 per passenger in fixed compensation, plus the right to a full refund if you prefer not to travel on the alternative date.

Scenario 3: Frankfurt to Rhodes Summer Delay (Medium-Haul, €400)

You are on a summer charter-style scheduled service on Aegean Airlines from Frankfurt am Main (FRA) to Rhodes Diagoras Airport (RHO). The aircraft suffers a long Air Traffic Control delay over the Aegean en route, and arrives in Rhodes 4 hours 20 minutes after the scheduled arrival. The FRA–RHO distance is approximately 2,200 km — in the €400 band. ATC delays can constitute extraordinary circumstances if they are due to a strike or genuine ATC capacity crisis. However, routine ATC flow management during a busy summer weekend is NOT extraordinary. If Aegean confirms only routine ATC flow restrictions caused the delay (not a strike), you are entitled to €400 per passenger.

Greece's 5-year limitation is generous, but do not delay unnecessarily — evidence is best gathered promptly after the disruption.

1. File immediately after a delayed summer island flight. Aegean's peak summer disruptions on Greek island routes are among the most common EU261 scenarios in Europe. The sooner you file after a Mykonos, Santorini, or Rhodes delay, the fresher the evidence and the quicker Aegean's systems can retrieve the flight records.

2. Photograph the arrivals board and gate clocks at your destination. In Greek island airports especially, the gap between wheels-down and gate arrival can be significant. Document the actual gate arrival time with a timestamped photo.

3. Do not confuse standard ATC delays with ATC strikes. Routine air traffic management delays (which occur every busy summer day over the Aegean) are not extraordinary circumstances. Only a formal ATC strike — with a publicly announced walkout and corroborating evidence — qualifies.

4. Claim for all passengers on the booking separately. If you are travelling with family or friends, each person on the same booking has an independent €250 or €400 right. Submit individual claim forms for each passenger, or clearly list all passengers in a single claim letter.

5. Keep hotel and meal receipts if Aegean failed to provide care. During long delays at island airports with limited facilities, airlines sometimes fail to provide adequate vouchers. Document all out-of-pocket expenses and include them in your reimbursement request.

6. Aegean's Star Alliance membership helps if connecting. If your Aegean delay caused you to miss a Star Alliance codeshare connection, document the missed connection carefully. The "connecting flights" jurisprudence under EU261 may entitle you to compensation for the whole disrupted journey, not just the Aegean leg.

7. Know your rebooking rights for island flights. In peak summer, Aegean may struggle to rebook you on an alternative flight to your Greek island for several days. Under EU261, you have the right to be rebooked on the next available flight — even on a competitor if Aegean cannot offer a timely alternative. This is rarely enforced in practice, but it is a legal right worth asserting.