ATHENS – Suffering devastating losses in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic raged and air travel was shut down, Aegean Airlines plans to add more flights this spring and summer as demand is rising again.

That comes as the New Democracy government is accelerating what had been a slow-rolling vaccination campaign and adding self-testing to the battle against the stubborn Coronavirus.

As of mid-July the carrier’s schedule will come to 70-75 percent of what it was in 2019 and is bringing back and retraining crews, said Kathimerini, with hopes for a summer rebound, the country reopening tourists on May 14.

Aegean's seven regional hubs will open the next day,  starting with Iraklio and Rhodes and plans also include more than 100 international routes, with an emphasis on direct flights, the report said.

In January, the European Commission approved 120 euros ($144.45 million) in state aid to the beleaguered airline that is Greece's national carrier and ranked among the best – or the best – regional airline in the European Union.

The Commission said that the package is in line with EU state aid rules, as it is aimed at “compensating the airline for the losses directly caused by the coronavirus outbreak and the travel restrictions imposed by Greece and other destination countries to limit the spread of the Coronavirus”.