Egnatia Odos motorway takeover: 900 km and 1,000 staff, in just three weeks
When Egis assumed responsibility for operating the A2/E90 Egnatia Odos motorway in Greece, the timeframe was impossibly tight. Yet against all odds, on New Year’s Eve 2025, they succeeded. We talked to motorway O&M company1 CEO Frank Thibaut and Mobilisation Manager Petroula Stavrakaki to find out how they turned an impossible deadline into a defining leadership achievement.
Planning under pressure
The 35-year Egnatia Odos concession was formally assigned in March 2024 to an Egis and Gek Terna consortium, with Egis responsible for operations and the majority shareholder in the O&M company. A five-month transition period was expected before operations began, but postponements to the handover date dramatically shortened it. When the 31 December 2025 ‘go-live’ date was finally settled, Egis was left with just three weeks to prepare, and further delays before the team was granted access to sites, systems, and records.
“It forced us to focus on what mattered most,” Frank Thibaut recalls. “We asked ourselves, what are the bare essentials we need to be ready? Then we focused on those. The rest could come later.”
The motorway they were inheriting was a publicly operated network running the full width of Greece, from the Port of Igoumenitsa on the west coast—Greece’s main gateway to Italy—all the way to the Greek-Turkish border in the east. It also included three major northbound branches linking Greece to Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria. With 77 tunnels, 1,500 bridges, 54 toll stations, 6 traffic control centres, 4 maintenance depots, and several important subcontractors to oversee, every one of those elements needed continuity from the first minute of 31st December 2025.
The people challenge
One of the greatest challenges they faced was organising a new workforce under immense time pressure. The concession contract did not require Egis to retain staff, but the company made a strategic decision to offer employment continuity to everyone who wanted to stay. Of today’s 1,020 employees, only five were not part of the previous team.
To engage staff quickly, the leadership team led in-person conversations with supervisors and shift managers, leaving their contact details in case of questions. They also advertised on two websites and received 700 CVs in a single week.
Another key decision, given the time pressures, was to outsource accounting and payroll activities to an external provider, freeing up internal teams to focus on operational continuity during the early months of operations.
To build a strong foundation of trust, Egis began by issuing permanent contracts to everyone. Frank Thibaut says: “Keeping people was essential, not just practically but ethically. We wanted them to see a long future with us, not uncertainty, and our early actions within the context of a 35-year concession contract helped bring them on board.”
This people-first approach means that, since the takeover, only a handful of staff members have departed.
Obstacles at every turn
Although the team remained outwardly calm, the transition was fraught with difficulties:
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Limited access to information: The speed of the transfer process and volume of data and processes to be addressed presented practical problems from day one, with access granted just two weeks before the transfer.
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Temporary facilities: For six weeks, the new management worked out of makeshift premises with limited furniture and a delayed utility set-up.
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Transitioning of critical subcontractors: Key services were delivered by third-party providers, who also needed to transition. Things like toll deposit collection and the toll system supplier, which had to transfer 370,000 toll subscribers, needed priority attention.
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Unexpected traffic volumes: In the first two months, oversized vehicle permit requests were 40% higher than expected, forcing Egis to redesign workflows with the Ministry of Transport.
Despite these pressures, the team maintained a deliberate posture of confidence: “Being positive helped - and not showing that you’re anxious. People feed off confidence, especially in times of uncertainty.”
Rapid response and clear focus
To keep on top of things, the leadership team established a strict operational rhythm anchored by daily noon meetings. Same time, same duration, tight agenda: What’s working. What’s not? How do we fix it today?
Between these briefings, teams progressed multiple workstreams in parallel, including:
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Organising vehicles
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Traffic management centre readiness
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Toll rates and systems configuration
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Uniforms (including creative solutions involving temporary stickers)
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Branding and signage
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Staff onboarding
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IT issues on toll and traffic systems
No moment captured the significance of the achievement more than New Year’s Eve at the toll station, at the close of the first day of operations.
Petroula Stavrakaki remembers the emotion of the moment: “New Year’s Eve at the toll station - that was our first day operating the motorway. We were there at midnight, not quite believing this was how we were going to celebrate the arrival of 2026!”
For Frank Thibaut, it symbolised the dedication of the team around him: “I remember thinking how lucky we are to have this team, good people who are motivated to give their best.”
Lessons learned
Both leaders agree that earlier access to the motorway and better collaboration from the outgoing operator would have eased the pressure. But paradoxically, the urgency sharpened the focus of everyone involved in the transition.
Petroula Stavrakaki emphasises the importance of building trust: “It helped that we were visible and accessible, listening, explaining and showing people that they matter. This was not some faceless organisation.”
As Frank Thibaut says, their job was ultimately to inspire confidence: “I was always positive with people, telling them they did well with the tools they had. That continues today. My job is to give them confidence in the road ahead with us, and to trust us, because the work really begins now!”
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The Egnatia Odos motorway serves all of mainland Greece, and connects Turkey to Central Europe (Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria) as well as to Italy (Ancona, Bari, Brindisi). The operating company is Nea Egnatia Odos Leitourgia (NEOL), owned 75% by Egis and 25% by Gek Terna. Egis is also an investor in the concession, which is implementing a major 5-year highway and equipment modernisation programme. The concession and operating contracts have a duration of 35 years. Egnatia Odos is essential infrastructure for the economic development of Greece in the transport, industry, and tourism sectors, linking 11 cities, 4 ports, and 7 airports.
