Aegean Airlines says it has passed the worst of its Pratt & Whitney GTF grounding wave and will now let older Airbus A320ceo jets leave on schedule instead of extending them for cover. FlightGlobal’s 16 September 2026 fleet note, paired with Aegean’s 15 September first-half earnings call, frames a more cautious Athens capacity plan built around neo reactivation rather than keeping life-limited ceo metal.
Chairman Eftichios Vassilakis told analysts the neo-family grounding peak hit roughly 14–15 aircraft in March–April, eased to about 10 through the summer, and should trend toward zero grounded neo jets by the end of 2027. Year to date the group had taken five new A321neos, and 33 neo-family aircraft were flying in the discussed period versus 26 a year earlier—evidence the fleet mix is shifting even while some engines remain in the shop.
That shift unlocks ceo exits. Vassilakis said Aegean had previously extended older ceo leases because GTF inspection groundings removed neo capacity; with checks abating, those extensions are “gradually going away.” Management cited about seven ceo expiries in the next year and another five to seven the year after. Against that, Aegean plans to reactivate 10 currently idle neo-family jets by end-2027, accept two more neos this year, and take seven further new jets across 2027–28—about nine net additions not yet in the active fleet today.
Arithmetic, not aspiration, drives the retirement call. Ten reactivations plus nine incoming neos imply roughly 20 aircraft of replacement and recovery capacity by end-2028, enough—management argued—to shed expiring ceos without shrinking the flown fleet. Keeping older jets solely to pad ASKs is off the table: fuel is elevated, Middle East network gaps hurt connecting flows for months, and the neo-versus-ceo cost delta “becomes much higher” when jet fuel stays expensive.
Growth guidance matches that caution. After starting the year aimed at roughly 7–9% ASK growth, Aegean now talks about flattish capacity into the winter and said it would not expect ASK growth in 2027 if fuel curves stay hostile. First-half 2026 revenue still rose 4% to about €817 million on 7.8 million passengers (+3%), but EBIT fell sharply and the half swung to a slim after-tax loss as fuel and geopolitics bit.
For travelers, the near-term fleet still mixes neo and ceo cabins; the strategic message is that Athens wants every available GTF-powered neo back in the air and will not warehouse aging ceo airframes just to chase seats. For lessors and residual values, Aegean’s call is another European data point that the GTF inspection cycle has peaked—and that ceo redeliveries can resume when neo utilization recovers.
FlightGlobal’s read-through matches the call tone: Aegean will take a “much more cautious approach to capacity growth over the coming quarters,” citing geopolitical uncertainty and rising fuel prices even as the neo grounding curve improves. That combination—fewer forced ceo extensions, more neo metal returning, and no appetite for ASK chase into 2027—is the fleet story behind the earnings math. It also explains why management stressed qualitative capacity (newer, more efficient jets) over raw aircraft count.
Passengers should not expect an overnight all-neo short-haul fleet. Seven-plus ceo returns per year still leave a mixed Athens ramp through 2028. What changes is the default decision when a lease expires: redelivery becomes attractive again once idle neos can cover the flying. For Aegean, that is the first clean off-ramp from three years of GTF-driven ceo life extensions.
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