Somewhere over a Chicago kitchen table, a map of the Aegean is spread out, with a finger resting on Naxos and another on the Acropolis, and the question comes up: how do we actually get there from O’Hare? Two American carriers fly nonstop from Chicago to Athens, and the flight lands at Athens International Airport, where the connecting flights to the islands also leave from.
Which airlines fly from Chicago to Athens?
Two airlines fly nonstop between Chicago-O’Hare and Athens International Airport: American Airlines and United Airlines. Both operate the route on a seasonal basis, so the nonstop is a feature of certain parts of the year and not a fixture of every month. When you plan dates, that is the first thing to keep in mind.
The two carriers also fly to Athens from other American cities, which matters if friends or family are joining you from elsewhere and you want to meet in the same arrivals hall.
| Airline | Nonstop from Athens to (United States) |
|---|---|
| American Airlines (seasonal) | Charlotte, Chicago-O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York-JFK, Philadelphia |
| United Airlines (seasonal) | Chicago-O’Hare, Newark, Washington-Dulles |
| Emirates | Newark |
| Norse Atlantic Airways (seasonal) | New York-JFK |
American Airlines and United from O’Hare
American Airlines and United are the two names to look for when you search Chicago to Athens. Each flies the route as a seasonal nonstop, and each uses O’Hare as the Chicago end. That gives you a choice of carrier on the same pair of airports, so you can compare schedules and fares between the two and pick the one that fits your dates and your loyalty program.
O’Hare is also the airport where both airlines connect passengers from many other American cities, which is useful if you live outside Chicago and are feeding into the route. In Athens, the same two airlines fly back to other U.S. cities, so a different return city is possible if you want to end the trip somewhere other than where you began, for instance returning through Philadelphia, Dallas/Fort Worth, Newark or Washington-Dulles.
Other carriers that connect Athens with the U.S.
Chicago is not on the route list of Emirates or Norse Atlantic Airways. Emirates flies nonstop between Athens and Newark, and Norse Atlantic Airways flies seasonal nonstops between Athens and New York-JFK. For a Chicago traveler, these matter mostly as ways to build a trip with an open jaw, flying out of one city and home through another, or as options when the O’Hare nonstops are not operating on your dates.
Air Canada and Air Transat also fly seasonal nonstops from Athens, to Montréal-Trudeau and Toronto-Pearson. They do not fly to Chicago, but they are part of the picture of who connects Athens with North America.
Where do you land?
You land at Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos, which sits in Spata, in the region of Attica, and not in the city itself. It began operating on 28 March 2001, and it is the airport that every one of the nonstop flights above uses, so the arrival is the same whether you flew American, United or one of the others.
The airport and its distance from the city
The airport is about 12 miles east of central Athens as the crow flies, but the road distance is 19 miles because of the hills that lie between the airport and the city. That gap between the two figures is worth remembering when you picture the ride in: the way into town curves around those hills instead of running straight.
After a long flight from Chicago, the practical point is simply that your hotel and the airport are separate places with a real stretch of road between them. Plan your first evening around arriving in Athens proper, where tavernas serve grilled octopus, fried zucchini, tzatziki and plates of olives, and where a late dinner after landing is a pleasure and not a chore.
Connecting onward without leaving the airport
Athens International is also where the domestic flights begin, so a traveler headed for the islands can continue from the same airport. Aegean Airlines, the flag carrier of Greece, has hubs at Athens and Thessaloniki and flies nonstop from Athens to many Greek destinations.
Aegean was founded on 2 January 1995 and began operations in May 1999. Beyond Greece, it flies nonstop from Athens to many European cities, including Amsterdam, Lisbon, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Rome-Fiumicino and Vienna. That makes Athens a place where a Chicago arrival can be followed by a flight somewhere else in Europe as easily as by one to an island.
A note about Mykonos
Travelers sometimes assume they can fly straight to the islands from the United States. Mykonos is a good example of why that does not work: Aegean Airlines serves no nonstop destinations in the U.S. or Canada from Mykonos.
Its seasonal flights from other carriers go to European cities, with easyJet flying to Geneva, London-Gatwick, Manchester, Milan-Malpensa, Naples and Nice, Neos to Bologna, Milan-Malpensa, Rome-Fiumicino and Verona, and Ryanair to Bologna, Budapest, Naples, Paphos and Vienna. So the path from Chicago to Mykonos runs through Athens or through a European city.
What do you need for the trip?
You need a ticket on one of the nonstop carriers, and then a plan for the last leg from Athens to wherever you are sleeping, whether that is a hotel in the city or a bed on an island. The Chicago part is the simple part to settle, since American and United are the two choices. The part that takes thought is what comes after landing.
If you are staying in Athens
Landing at Spata and heading into the city means covering the 19 miles by road that separate the airport from central Athens. Once there, the days fill quickly with the Acropolis and the Parthenon, the neighborhoods around them, and the kinds of meals Athens does well: souvlaki wrapped in pita, a slice of spinach pie from a bakery, moussaka and grilled fish at a taverna with tables in the street.
Because the airport sits outside the city, the return day deserves its own thought. Build your last morning around the road back to Spata, and keep the afternoon for a final coffee at a kafenio, the traditional Greek coffeehouse, instead of a last-minute sight.
If you are continuing to the islands
Three airlines fly nonstop from Athens to Greek destinations, and their lists differ, so it helps to see them side by side. Aegean Airlines and Sky Express each cover many destinations, with Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes, Corfu, Chania and Heraklion on both lists. Olympic Air flies to a different group of islands, several of which neither of the others serve in the same way.
| Airline | Nonstop from Athens to |
|---|---|
| Aegean Airlines | Alexandroupoli, Chania, Chios, Corfu, Heraklion, Ioannina, Kavala, Kefalonia, Kos, Lemnos, Mykonos, Mytilene, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini, Thessaloniki |
| Olympic Air | Ikaria, Karpathos, Kithira, Leros, Milos, Naxos, Paros, Sitia, Skiathos, Skyros, Zakynthos |
| Sky Express | 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, Zakynthos |
Some islands appear on only one list. Sitia, Skyros and Leros are with Olympic Air, Ioannina and Kavala with Aegean, and Astypalaia, Kalymnos and Syros with Sky Express. Naxos, Paros, Milos and Zakynthos appear with both Olympic Air and Sky Express. If your heart is set on a particular island, check which airline reaches it before you settle the rest of the trip.
If you are going on to another European city
Athens also works as a place to change planes for the rest of Europe. Aegean Airlines flies nonstop to cities such as Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest, Madrid, Munich, Prague and Zurich.
Good to know before you go
The U.S. State Department rates Greece Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions.
The nonstops from Chicago are seasonal, so the dates you want shape the whole plan. Greece uses the euro, and a taverna meal or a coffee at a kafenio is paid for in it.
Athens International carries the name of Eleftherios Venizelos on its signs, and that is the name to look for when you book. The airport at Spata is the end of the transatlantic leg, and every island flight listed here begins from it.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Athens International Airport, airlines and destinations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/athens-destinations#Airlines_and_destinations), checked October 12, 2026
- U.S. Department of State, Greece travel advisory (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/greece-travel-advisory.html)
- Wikipedia, Aegean Airlines (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegean_Airlines), checked October 12, 2026
- Wikipedia, Mykonos Airport, airlines and destinations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mykonos-destinations#Airlines_and_destinations), checked October 12, 2026