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  About Madrid

Madrid is one of the hottest holiday destinations in Spain and no, and we are not talking about the weather here. It's not as popular as Barcelona, but it is definitely a city that you must visit. Spain is one of the cheapest holiday destinations in Europe compared to other countries and is worth every penny spent. Madrid is an architectural marvel and is also known for its rich culture. You will occasionally run into an old Spanish Grandma or another local who is all excited to help you with directions or hand you a list of the best attractions to visit in the city. There are high chances of you befriending a lot of locals and staying in touch with them later on through social media. Not to mention, the city is musically inclined, and you will find yourself attending quite a few music festivals here. Of course, Madrid is also popular for its food, and you will want to visit the city again just for the gastronomic experience.

Best Time to Visit Madrid

Summer is one of the most popular times for tourists to plan a vacation to Madrid. However, a lot of local shops are shut during this time since the owners also take a vacation. If you don't mind the scorching heat, this is the best time to fly to Madrid. The temperature ranges from 15 to 31 degree Celsius in summer. You might also want to book your hotel in Madrid well in advance if you are planning to visit the city in summer. You can attend quite a few festivals and events during summers like the International Gay Pride, Mad Cool Festival, Feria del Libro and Veranos de la Villa. Tourists also prefer taking a taxi to get around the city instead of walking around to avoid the heat.

September to November is the autumn season in Madrid and quite pleasant, too. The temperature ranges from 6 to 26 degree Celsius, and this is also when most locals return from their vacations. The shops remain open, and you get to enjoy the highlights of the city at its best. You can also attend the Autumn Festival that happens in October and November. December to February are the coldest months in Madrid. The temperature ranges from 2 to 12 degree Celsius, January being the coldest month. This is also the best time to book a hotel in Madrid or get cheap flight tickets to Madrid since it is not a high season.

Spring season is from March to May and is a pleasant time to head to Madrid. It is right before the high season, so the locals are preparing to welcome a lot of tourists. The hotel prices are low this season and flight tickets are also pretty cheap. The temperature ranges from 5 to 21 degree Celsius and a lot of tourist spots are also open. The best part is that you get to hog the city to yourself since it is not very crowded.

Places to Visit in Madrid

Plaza Mayor, originally called Plaza del Arrabal, is a major tourist attraction in Madrid. You will find yourself admiring the architecture of the place and take lots of pictures. Royal Palace of Madrid is yet another tourist spot that has a lot of historical importance. It was built right where the Moorish Castle was destroyed in 1734 after a tragic fire broke out. It is one of the most important tourist spots in the city. You can also visit the National Museum of History, called the Museo Nacional Del Prado. It houses some of the best masterpieces by renowned artists like Van Dyck, Goya, El Greco, Rembrandt and so on. You will find paintings that date back to the 11th and 18th century. The Temple of Debod was a gift to the city by former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. Catch the best of artist Francisco Goya's paintings at the Royal Chapel of St Anthony of La Florida. The church also has the remains of the artist who was buried in front of the altar.

Teatro Real, or the Royal Theatre, is considered to be one of the best opera houses in all of Europe. It has a seating capacity of 1745 people, and you can even get a guide to take you through the theatre. You can also visit the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, a monument that took approximately 20 years to construct. Watch some of the most beautiful fountains at the Plaza de Cibeles. It is also home to the bank of Spain, Linares Palace and Buenavista Palace. Madrid also has a happening nightlife scene. You can head to Barrio de La Latina for some delectable tapas, go dancing and have some amazing beer. However, if crowded places are a deal-breaker for you, you might want to steer clear of visiting the place on weekends.

Things to do in Madrid

You can go on a guided tour of the city. Reserve a day for museums, another day for art tours and a few days to sit back, relax and party. Madrid's nightlife scene is quite exciting. Make sure you visit museums like Museo del Prado, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Museo Sorolla and Museo Reina Sofia. It would be advisable to hire a guide for your museum tour. You'll get to know a lot more interesting facts about the city. You will find yourself appreciating the architecture, and you will be amazed at everything that you see in the museums. If you want to spend your evening relaxing at El Retiro, one of the most beautiful parks in Madrid. You can either plan a picnic on the grass or go boating around the lake in the park. If you are at Plaza Mayor, make sure you try the squid roll here. You will find a lot of restaurants here that serve delicious squid rolls. It is one of the most popular dishes to try here. You can head to Gran Via for a shopping spree and to La Latina for some tapas. Madrid is also easily accessible to other cities in Spain, and you can also cover other major cities in Spain like Barcelona, Seville, Granada, Ibiza and more. Madrid is a place you can visit with your family or your friends. You can also pack your bags and head for a solo trip to Madrid.

Food and Restaurants in Madrid

Traditional Madrid food consists of meat, bread and cheese. It's best tasted in tapas, samples of small plates of Spanish dishes. They come free with the drinks that you order at the bars. Mercado de San Miguel, a popular market that is located right outside Plaza Mayor, offers tapas along with cocktails, dessert, coffee and produce stalls. You can head over to El Tigre if you want to try some complimentary tapas along with your favourite cocktail. The restaurant serves a large plate of tapas, and even though the place is quite loud, you will enjoy your time here. You can also try paella (which is rice with fish), croquetas (fried breadcrumb rolls dish that is filled with mashed potatoes, meat and cheese), Espanola (potato omelette that you will fall in love with) and gazpacho, which is cold soup. You cannot leave Madrid without trying the famous jamón Iberico, one of the most expensive hams in the world. You will also find a lot of Indian, Asian, Chinese and Latin American cuisine in Madrid. Kathmandu Tandoori House Nepali serves the best Indian and Nepali cuisine. You can head to Antonio of Italia a Tavola for authentic Italian food. If you want to try street food that's also healthy, you can try Azotea Forus Barcelo and to Empanadas Malvon Retiro for Argentinean cuisine. Gramabar is a popular spot for everyone who is in the mood for American, Caribbean and Venezuelan cuisine.

How to reach Madrid (Transportation)

Madrid International Airport is called Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport and is situated in the Barajas district. It is about 12 km away from the city centre. The flight connectivity to Madrid from India is excellent. Turkish Airlines, EgyptAir, Lufthansa, Air France are some of the airlines that fly to Madrid quite frequently with layovers at Istanbul, Cairo, Munich and Paris; these are the most popular routes to Madrid by air. If you book in advance, there are high chances that you get cheap flight tickets to Madrid. You will also come across decent flight deals to Madrid online. Madrid Airport is well-equipped with WiFi, lounges and also has a sleeping room in case you want to reach the airport early and wait for your flight. There are lots of taxi and bus services from the airport to your hotel. If you are on a Europe trip and Madrid is on your itinerary, you can also take the Eurail that connects to France and Italy as well. Though you can reach Madrid by rail and road from any other European country, taking a flight to Madrid is one of the most convenient ways to travel.

  About Aegean Airlines

Aegean Airlines S.A., which is the national flag carrier of Greece, is also the largest airline in the country with respect to the number of passengers carried, fleet size and the slew of destinations it serves. The airline operates scheduled as well as charter services from two of its Greek destinations, Athens and Thessaloniki, to all the major destinations spread across Europe and the Middle East. It operates from three main hubs at Athens International airport in Athens, Larnaca International Airport in Cyprus and Macedonia International Airport in Thessaloniki. Some of its focus cities include Chania International Airport, Rhodes International Airport, Heraklion International Airport and Kalamata International Airport. Aegean Airlines also operates from a few more Greek airports, but they are mainly on a seasonal basis. The airline has its headquarters at Kifisia, a suburb located in Athens. Aegean Airlines joined the Star Alliance in 2010.

In 2012, Aegean Airlines announced that it was acquiring Olympic Air, formed to be part of the Greek national carrier, previously known as Olympic Airways. The buyout was eventually approved by the European Commission the following year, and the airline came into existence as Aegean Airlines' new subsidiary. They are part of the same company while functioning as individual entities. Additionally, the airline also announced to be part of Cyprus Airways' last stage of privatisation tender. Cyprus Airways, the flag carrier of Cyprus was privatised, but soon, the airline followed for bankruptcy. Following this, Aegean Airlines intervened and established a hub at Larnaca International Airport, the official international gateway of Cyprus. With this, Aegean Airlines expanded its operations and initiated scheduled flights to and from the island country to a slew of international destinations. The airline was founded in 1987 and commenced operations as a VIP/business air operation which only catered to a handful of important people. It also worked as an air ambulance service. However, from 1992, Aegean Airlines received the license to be an independent air operator by the Greek country. This was followed by the airline's move to expand its fleet and acquire more jet flights to travel the world. While it was founded as Aegean Aviation, the airline rebranded itself as Aegean Airlines, which was adopted as the airline started scheduled passenger services in 1999. The airline's first commercial flights flew from Athens to Thessaloniki, Heraklion and Crete.

The airline has acquired many airlines and private aircraft ventures since its inception. They acquired Air Greece in 1999 and by 2001, also merged with Cronus Airlines, while they functioned as one airline. In 2005, Aegean Airlines also partnered with Lufthansa to offer its loyal customers with new mileage plans such as its Miles and More programme. By 2006, the airline further entered a deal with TAP Air Portugal and eventually also announced a cooperation deal with Brussels Airlines. However, Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air stated their intention to merge and form one operator to work under the Star Alliance network. However, in 2011, the European Commission stated that they would be blocking the deal between the two airlines, citing anti-competition issues. The commissions basically believed that there would be a quasi-monopoly in Greece's transport market, following the merger with Olympic Air.

Further on this, the commission added that the merger would also result in Aegean Airlines hiking up their flight ticket prices to cater to the Greek and European passengers who are flying from Athens. There would not be any airline strong enough to match the sufficient size of fleet and operations that Aegean Airlines can accommodate. Eventually, the airline came up with a solution that enabled the merger to take place.

Theodoros Vassilakis is the current owner of Aegean Airlines as with a whopping stake of 34.17 per cent. Meanwhile, other partners who have a considerable share in the airline include Ainesco Enterprises Company Limited and Siana Enterprise Company Limited which hold 9.48 per cent respectively along with Konstantakopoulos Achilleas which has 6.39 per cent stakes in Aegean Airlines.

Fleet size of Aegean Airlines

Aegean Airlines currently owns and operates an all-Airbus fleet with 51 aircraft in total. The aircraft in service includes one Airbus A319-100, 35 Airbus A320-200s, five Airbus A3320neo and Airbus A321neo and ten Airbus A321-200s. Additionally, the airline also operates a Learjet 60, which is predominantly used for VIP and business purposes. It's mainly for executive travel and flies in a non-scheduled flight basis. With respect to fleet expansion, Aegean Airlines followed two strategies, one to eliminate all turboprop aircraft from its fleet and second, to place larger orders for Airbus A320 and A321 as a means to transform its fleet to an all-Airbus one. They managed to achieve the same as, by 2004, the airline got rid of all its turboprop planes. Similarly, the airline also transformed its fleet to acquire and sustain the only aircraft. In 2010, the airline became the first one to commit to upgrade its aircraft from Airbus family and install FANS-B+ datalink system that the aircraft manufacturing company introduced. Further, they enhanced the cabin classes of their aircraft by installing better-reclining seats across all its fleet. Aegean Airlines does plan to expand its fleet to accommodate 70 aircraft instead of its current standing of 51 aircraft.

Baggage Allowance

Aegean Airlines has enabled baggage allowance keeping the global standards and the fleet's strength in mind. Depending on the cabin class and the ticket type of the passenger, the baggage allowance policy is altered. Currently, the airline allows one piece of baggage which can weigh up to 23 kg for passengers travelling from the economy flex class. Economy GoLight cabin has no checked baggage allowance from the airlines as it majorly caters to short-haul flights and is mostly used in the domestic routes. Passengers of the business class are allowed to carry two pieces of baggage that can weigh up to 32 kg each. It is essential for the passenger to not carry a weight that exceeds the stated bracket. The baggage dimension for all the bags should be 158 cm and not more. Special reservations are made for passengers who are part of Aegean Airlines' Miles+Bonus Gold and Star Gold Alliance. Rules for cabin baggage include one hand baggage that should weigh no more than 8 kg with a dimension of 56 cm X 45 cm X 25 cm. Meanwhile, the business class passengers can carry one piece of baggage that cannot exceed 13 kg with the same dimension as mentioned for economy class.

In-flight services

Aegean Airlines' in-flight services are worth all the money spent on the ticket. With its Airbus-fleet that has the best of aircraft models, the interiors are made to bring forth comfort and convenience for the passengers. The seats are much better with recline options and more legroom. Other in-flight services also include in-flight entertainment systems for international or long-haul flights along with delicious in-flight meals. The flight attendants are also quite friendly and accommodating.

Popular routes and top cities of Aegean Airlines

Aegean Airlines, as of 2019, caters to about 94 destinations in its domestic routes and international routes. The airline majorly only flies to European countries and a handful of Middle East. As one of the top European airlines, the connectivity of Aegean Airlines is immaculate with a slew of tourist destinations. Cyprus and Greece remain its biggest market while other destinations include the top financial places on the continent. The airline has terminated a handful of cities in Russia and Ukraine. They also have seasonal flights that cater to many places during their peak season. Some of the important cities for Aegean Airlines are Yerevan, Vienna, Brussels Airport, Sofia, Zagreb, Larnaca, Prague, Copenhagen, Cairo, Tallinn, Paris, Nice, Strasbourg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Mykonos, Santorini, Thessaloniki, Budapest, Dublin, Tel Aviv, Milan, Pisa, Rome, Venice, Amman, Beirut, Marrakesh, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Lisbon, Moscow, Warsaw, Lisbon, Bucharest, Jeddah, Ibiza, Madrid, Stockholm, Geneva, Zurich, Istanbul, Birmingham, London and Manchester.

Why travel by Aegean Airlines?

Aegean Airlines has sustained a reputation in the airlines industry as one of the best carriers for tourists who wish to explore more of Greece and other European countries. Unlike some of the big players in the market, Aegean Airlines further connects to East Europe destinations. While their domestic route and international route connectivity are worth mentioning, the other services provided by the airline is what makes it stay ahead of the game.

With Aegean Airlines, passengers can do web check-ins to avoid the long airport queues. In fact, there are provisions to purchase extra baggage on the website. Further details regarding baggage allowance can be understood on the official website of Aegean Airlines. The airline's website is up to date with all necessary information ranging from flight status of the passenger to Aegean Airlines' flight schedules. In fact, passengers can also make airport shuttle bookings on the website. Additional perks are reserved for passengers who are members of the Star Alliance frequent flyers programme. The airline does cater to the needs of the passengers and ensures to offer the best airport and in-flight services.