American Airlines Flights to Greece: U.S. Cities, Athens Arrivals and Onward Island Flights

Somewhere over the Atlantic, a traveler flipping through a guidebook starts sorting islands into piles: Santorini, Naxos, Crete, maybe Corfu. The first question comes before any of them, and it is which airline gets you to Greece at all. American Airlines flies nonstop to Athens from five U.S. cities, and from Athens other carriers fan out to the islands and the mainland.

Which U.S. cities does American serve in Greece?

American Airlines flies seasonal nonstop service to Athens International Airport from Charlotte, Chicago-O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York-JFK and Philadelphia. That makes five departure cities, spread across the Southeast, the Midwest, Texas and the Northeast. Because the service is seasonal, the schedule is a matter of the calendar, so the first step in planning is to look at which months the route you want actually operates.

Every one of these flights ends in the same place, the capital. That shapes the whole trip. Whether your final stop is a beach on Naxos, a harbor town in Crete or a mountain village on the mainland, an American itinerary begins with a landing at Athens.

The five American departure cities

Charlotte and Philadelphia serve travelers from the Carolinas, the mid-Atlantic and the many towns that feed into those cities. Chicago-O’Hare opens the route to the Midwest, while Dallas/Fort Worth does the same for Texas and the Southwest. New York-JFK is the departure point for the Northeast, and it is also the airport where other airlines compete on the Athens route.

If your home airport is a smaller one, the practical question is which of the five cities your local flights reach most naturally. A traveler from the Great Lakes will look at Chicago, one from the Gulf Coast at Dallas, one from Florida or Georgia at Charlotte or Philadelphia. The Greek end of the trip is identical whichever city you choose.

Other airlines on the Athens route from the U.S.

American is not alone on this crossing. United Airlines operates seasonal nonstop flights from Athens to Chicago-O’Hare, Newark and Washington-Dulles. Emirates flies nonstop between Athens and Newark, and Norse Atlantic Airways operates seasonal nonstop flights between Athens and New York-JFK.

Seen together, the list shows how the map divides. Chicago and New York are served by more than one carrier, Washington appears with United, and Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth and Philadelphia appear with American. Comparing the carriers for your own departure city is a sensible habit, since the same Athens airport waits at the other end.

Canada and Europe from the same airport

Travelers who are crossing the border to Canada as part of a longer trip will notice that Air Canada and Air Transat both operate seasonal nonstop flights from Athens to Montréal-Trudeau and Toronto-Pearson. They are a reminder that Athens International Airport is a meeting point for many routes, not only the transatlantic ones.

On the European side, Aegean Airlines flies nonstop from Athens to cities such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Geneva, Lisbon, London-Heathrow, Madrid, Milan-Malpensa, Munich, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Prague, Rome-Fiumicino, Stockholm-Arlanda, Vienna and Zurich. Many of the same names turn up on a rail-and-flight itinerary through Europe, and Athens can be the start or the end of one.

What to picture when you land

Greece rewards a first meal more than almost any country on the list of places Americans fly to. A plate of horiatiki, the Greek village salad with tomatoes, cucumber, olives and a thick slab of feta, sets the tone. Grilled octopus, a pie of greens and cheese, a glass of ouzo clouding with water: the taverna table is the first stop for many, and the feeling of being abroad arrives in the first hour.

A first day in Athens can go in many directions. The Acropolis and the Parthenon stand above the city, the Plaka below them is full of cafés and shops, and the neighborhood of Monastiraki has its flea market and its souvlaki counters. After a night flight, people are content with a slow coffee at a kafenio, the traditional Greek coffeehouse, before they decide what comes next.

Which Greek airports does it connect to?

American Airlines connects the United States to one Greek airport, Athens International Airport. Every nonstop American flight in this list lands there, and the rest of Greece is reached by a second flight from Athens on another airline, or by other means of transport.

That second leg is where Greece becomes a country of islands. Three airlines fly nonstop from Athens to a long list of domestic destinations, and between them they reach most of the places travelers dream about.

Aegean Airlines from Athens

Aegean Airlines flies nonstop from Athens to Alexandroupoli, Chania, Chios, Corfu, Heraklion, Ioannina, Kavala, Kefalonia, Kos, Lemnos, Mykonos, Mytilene, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini and Thessaloniki.

Chania and Heraklion are the two Crete airports on the list, so a trip to Crete can start at either end of the island. Corfu and Kefalonia are in the Ionian Sea, while Mykonos, Santorini, Kos and Rhodes are the Aegean names. Thessaloniki is the mainland city with a food culture of its own, known for pastries such as bougatsa, a custard or cheese pie served warm for breakfast.

Olympic Air and its islands

Olympic Air operates nonstop flights from Athens to Ikaria, Karpathos, Kithira, Leros, Milos, Naxos, Paros, Sitia, Skiathos, Skyros and Zakynthos. Several of these are the islands that travelers choose when they want a beach week or a village base instead of a large resort town.

Naxos and Paros are two neighbors in the Cyclades, each with a main town called a chora, the Greek word for the old hilltop or harbor town at the center of an island. Milos is known for its coastline of unusual rock formations, Skiathos for its beaches and Zakynthos for its Ionian shores. Sitia is on Crete, which gives that island a third airport on the list.

Sky Express and the wider map

Sky Express operates nonstop flights from Athens to Alexandroupoli, Astypalaia, Chania, Chios, Corfu, Heraklion, Ikaria, Kalymnos, Karpathos, Kastoria, Kefalonia, Kithira, Kos, Kozani, Lemnos, Milos, Mykonos, Mytilene, Naxos, Paros, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini, Skiathos, Syros, Thessaloniki and Zakynthos. This is the longest list of the three, and it overlaps with both of the others.

A few names appear only here: Astypalaia, Kalymnos, Syros, Kastoria and Kozani. Syros is an island of the Cyclades with a lively port town, and Kalymnos is in the Dodecanese. Kastoria and Kozani are mainland cities, a reminder that Greece beyond the coast has lakes, mountains and towns that rarely appear in the usual island itineraries.

Putting the legs together

The pattern, then, is two flights: an American flight into Athens from Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York or Philadelphia, and a domestic flight out of Athens on Aegean, Olympic Air or Sky Express. Several islands, Santorini, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros and Milos among them, appear on at least one of the domestic lists.

The city has its ancient sites, its museums and its evening ritual of a drink and a plate of meze, the small dishes shared at the table. An island week then feels like a second trip, with a different pace and different food: fish by the harbor, local cheeses, and a dessert of yogurt with honey.

Good to know before you go

The U.S. State Department rates Greece Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions.

Greece uses the euro, and the Athens arrival is the first place visitors change habits, from the cup of coffee at the airport to the first taverna bill. Seasonal flights mean the calendar matters more than usual, so the question of which months a route operates deserves a look before anything else is planned. Island flights from Athens are run by Aegean, Olympic Air and Sky Express, each with its own list of destinations.