Flying to Greece

Overview

Given its size and geography with its many islands, as well as its tourist appeal, the country has a well-developed network of airports and significant air traffic across its territory. Out of around fifty existing airports, about ten handle over a million passengers annually, and a good thirty welcome more or less substantial traffic from abroad—though for many island airports, nearly all activity is concentrated in the few months of the summer season.

Logically, Athens Airport is the busiest, with flights from all over (including seasonal routes from the US and Asia) and 15 million passengers per year (15.134 million in 2015). Next are Heraklion (6.025 million in 2015), Thessaloniki (4.950 million), Rhodes (4.552 million), Chania (2.458 million), Corfu (2.383 million), and Kos Island Airport (2.213 million). In short, Greece’s air coverage is quite good—even very good—from many European countries, at least during the season.

Types of flights

Local airlines

Greece has around ten airlines under its flag, several of which operate primarily on domestic routes. Since the struggles of the national carrier Olympic a few years ago, Aegean Airlines has become the main Greek airline following its acquisition of Olympic. In addition to these scheduled carriers, there are a few charter specialists like Aeolian Airlines, Bluebird, or Hermes Airlines. As for SkyGreece Airlines, which operated non-stop transatlantic flights (including to Montreal) from Greece, it ceased operations in August 2015 after just... three months of service.

• Aegean Airlines: Greece’s leading airline, a member of Star Alliance and owner of Olympic Air. Based in Athens and Thessaloniki, it offers an extensive domestic and international network (20 Greek cities) with over 80 regular or seasonal destinations.

• Astra Airlines: This Thessaloniki-based airline serves around twenty Greek airports with only regular or seasonal domestic flights.

• Ellinair: Operates charter and scheduled flights to the Caucasus and the former USSR, plus a few domestic routes, all launched in 2014.

• Minoan Air: A Cretan airline serving around ten Greek airports with domestic flights only.

• Olympic Air: The former national carrier now occupies a secondary role in Greek skies. Owned by Aegean, it serves only around twenty cities on domestic routes.

• Sky Express: Another Cretan airline, serving around twenty Greek airports with domestic flights only.

Charters, scheduled, and low-cost flights

Greece is one of the European countries with the most seasonal flights. Except for Athens and Thessaloniki, this type of traffic makes up the vast majority of activity at other airports, though most also have some year-round domestic services. Note that these seasonal flights aren’t just charters arranged by foreign tour operators; they also include scheduled and low-cost airlines that program routes for the tourist season, especially to the Greek islands.

Deals and special offers

Given the unique air travel landscape of the destination, promotions and special fares are plentiful for Greek cities and islands. Check with airlines or tour operators, as some packages include other services alongside airfare that can be very appealing.

From France

From Paris

From other regions

Selection criteria

From the rest of Europe

From elsewhere

Additional information