Trikala Municipality and Aegean Airlines: Greek Success Stories!

My last post was a bit of a bitch-fest about our local transport and council services. But I do have to give our local council their due. Last week-end some idiot left at our road-end – all round the bins – what looked like the unwanted items of an entire household: mattresses, furniture, kitchenware, clothing, papers – only the proverbial kitchen sink missing. Z called the council, explaining the situation and, the very next morning, two employees were there with a truck – albeit too small since they had clearly underestimated how much junk had actually been dumped. But with a second trip and good will it was all removed. Thank you for your rapid response – we really are grateful!

                                                    

A related success story I’d like to share with you is that of Trikala, a city of 82,000 in the fertile area of Thessaly, Central Greece. Hero of the piece is Dimitris Papastergiou, who has been Mayor since 2014 when he took over a municipality in debt to the tune of 45 million euros. This sum has been reduced by at least half, mainly by collaboration with local technical companies and by participating in EU-funded projects. Below we see one such 6-month project where driverless buses joined the local transport system - imagine!! Another experiment with sensor-equipped streetlights reduced power usage by a spectacular 70%.

 So it comes as no surprise to see that Trikala was short-listed as one of the top 21 smart cities in the world – designated as such when technology is used to improve services, increase transparency and become more efficient.   Below you see Dimitris in the council control room in front of their multi-screen system, each monitoring parking-space availability, rubbish truck circuits, the condition of water supply and traffic lights and, most importantly in terms of transparency, the monthly budget. Residents can phone in with complaints which are then fed into the system, thereby helping reduce operational correction time to about a quarter of the original one.   

                                             

One of its high schools boasts a robotics lab, opened in 2015 thanks to a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and local support. In this way, they hope to better prepare students to cope with the demands of our rapidly-developing world.

 My point here is that, despite the current economic crisis, the municipality of Trikala has been able to prosper. So next time our local councillors and compadres claim their continued inertia is due to lack of funding, we can point to Trikala as a paradigm of the remarkable progress that can be made with good will, imagination, garnering local support, and, most of all, through simply making an effort and having the actual desire to offer public service.

 My next topic is again transport – remember our local bus service?! - but this time in the public sector : Aegean Airlines. This company includes what used to be the national carrier, Olympic Airways, and is a member of Star Alliance.  Outstanding in the service they offer, in 2018 they were voted Europe’s Best Regional Airline for the 8^th consecutive year at the Skytrax World Airline Awards.  This is an accolade of quality since they are regarded as the Oscars of the Aviation industry and a global benchmark of airline excellence.  In addition, Aegean was placed 5^th in the World’s Best International Airlines - outside the USA – in the 2018 Readers’ Choice Awards of Conde Nast Traveller.  First place was awarded to Singapore Airlines, followed by Emirates, Qatar Airways and Air New Zealand.  British Airways was voted as 19^th – which comes as no surprise after a very disappointing experience with them two years ago. Aegean are known to be particularly ….er …. particular in selecting their air stewardesses  who look as if they should be sashaying down the runway – a fashion one, not at the airport!

 On the eve of my latest flight with them from Athens, I was intrigued to see a   Facebook post stating that the following day was the company’s 20^th operating birthday and that travellers should expect lots of surprises – intriguing! The Aegean area of the Eleftherios Venizelos Airport was festooned with balloons and on board we were given commemorative boxes containing sweets from a famous local chef.

                             

 

Our tickets automatically entered us in a lottery with prizes of tickets and airmiles. My expression of delight on Facebook was greeted with a speedy response. Well done, Aegean! 

So, yes, I did grouch before – and with good reason. But it has to be said loud and clear, that when Greeks do it right, they really excel!  They can be peerless and make me so proud of my adopted native land.

What better note to end on but the sight that greeted me as I embarked on that birthday flight from Athens? Both wine and stewardess – corkers!!