Delta Flights to Greece: U.S. Gateways, Athens Connections and Island Hops

Under the departures screens in Atlanta or at a JFK gate, the question comes up the moment you start planning a Greek vacation: which airline gets me there, and where do you land? Delta’s Atlantic flying is built around Atlanta and New York-JFK, and the Greek end of the trip is built around Athens International Airport, where the island flights begin. What follows sorts out who flies what, from the U.S. cities to the Greek islands.

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

Delta’s Atlantic flying is built around Atlanta and New York-JFK, and the Greek end of the trip is built around Athens International Airport, with JFK serving as its primary transatlantic hub. Atlanta is the largest hub in the Delta system and draws passengers from across the Southern and Eastern United States, so a traveler from a smaller city usually starts by connecting there. The rest of the trip is a matter of where you want to land in Greece and which other airlines fly on from there.

Atlanta and New York-JFK

Atlanta is the largest hub. It is the largest hub, and it also works as the main gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean, which gives you a sense of how many directions pull on it. For a Greek trip, it is the place where a flight from a regional airport meets the long-haul departures.

New York-JFK is the other half. Delta treats it as its primary transatlantic hub, and it also carries the transcontinental service to Los Angeles and San Francisco. New York-JFK also offers transcontinental service to Los Angeles and San Francisco, so a West Coast traveler can connect there.

SkyTeam partners and codeshares

Delta is a member of the SkyTeam alliance, with codeshare agreements with airlines including Aeroméxico, Air France, KLM, Korean Air, LATAM Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. Several of those partners are European carriers, which matters for anyone building a Greek itinerary around a stop in Paris, Amsterdam or London.

A codeshare means one ticket can carry a partner’s flight number, so a single itinerary can mix Delta and a SkyTeam airline. It is one of the ways a trip that starts in Atlanta or JFK can end up in Athens.

Nonstop flights from the U.S. to Athens on other airlines

Athens International Airport has seasonal nonstop service to several U.S. cities, flown by other carriers. American Airlines flies seasonally to Charlotte, Chicago-O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York-JFK and Philadelphia. United Airlines flies seasonally to Chicago-O’Hare, Newark and Washington-Dulles.

Emirates operates nonstop flights between Athens and Newark, and Norse Atlantic Airways flies seasonally between Athens and New York-JFK. Together they show which U.S. airports have a direct line to the Greek capital, and which cities are worth comparing when you price a trip.

On board: Delta One and Premium Select

Delta’s long-haul cabins are worth knowing about when you plan a transatlantic night. Delta One Suites have a door to the aisle for extra privacy, and they first appeared on the Airbus A350 fleet before being installed in the Boeing 777 fleet. Premium Select came in with the A350, with extra legroom, adjustable leg rests, more seat pitch and width, and more recline.

Delta Sky Club membership is available through an annual membership that can be purchased with money or miles, paid for with money or with miles.

SkyMiles

Delta’s frequent flyer program is SkyMiles, and the miles do not expire. Accounts can be deactivated in cases such as the death of a member or fraudulent activity. For a Greek trip, that means miles can sit in the account until you are ready to spend them on a crossing to Athens or a seat in a premium cabin.

Which Greek airports does it connect to?

The airport that matters is Athens International Airport, which is the starting point for nonstop flights to the U.S., Canada, other European capitals and a long list of Greek islands and cities. From there, Aegean Airlines, Olympic Air and Sky Express take you onward. These are Greek airlines, and the lists below give you the real map of where you can fly after you land.

Athens International Airport

Athens is the hub where the Atlantic flights end and the island flights begin. Other U.S. nonstops from American, United, Emirates and Norse Atlantic, as do the seasonal Canadian flights from Air Canada and Air Transat, which connect Athens to Montréal-Trudeau and Toronto-Pearson.

The same terminal sends out Aegean Airlines flights to major European cities, including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hamburg, Helsinki, Lisbon, London-Heathrow, Madrid, Milan-Malpensa, Munich, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Prague, Rome-Fiumicino, Stockholm-Arlanda, Vienna and Zurich. A traveler who flies into Europe on a SkyTeam partner can still end up in Athens on the Greek carrier.

Aegean Airlines

Aegean flies nonstop from Athens to many Greek destinations: Alexandroupoli, Chania, Chios, Corfu, Heraklion, Ioannina, Kavala, Kefalonia, Kos, Lemnos, Mykonos, Mytilene, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini and Thessaloniki. The list mixes big island names with mainland cities, from Thessaloniki to Ioannina.

For a first trip, the names that most Americans know are Santorini, Mykonos, Crete (through Chania and Heraklion), Rhodes and Corfu, and all of them appear here. Kefalonia and Kos are also on the list, along with the northeastern islands of Lemnos, Chios, Samos and Mytilene.

Olympic Air

Olympic Air flies nonstop from Athens to Ikaria, Karpathos, Kithira, Leros, Milos, Naxos, Paros, Sitia, Skiathos, Skyros and Zakynthos. That list includes Cycladic islands such as Naxos, Paros and Milos, along with Skiathos and Skyros in the Sporades, and Zakynthos in the Ionian Sea.

Some of these islands, such as Karpathos, Kithira and Leros, are names that rarely appear on a first-trip list. Others, such as Naxos and Paros, are the islands many travelers pair with Santorini or Mykonos. Sitia, in eastern Crete, is another way into the island besides Chania and Heraklion.

Sky Express

Sky Express has the longest list of the three. It flies nonstop 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.

It adds a few names the others do not, such as Astypalaia, Kalymnos and Syros among the islands, and Kastoria and Kozani on the mainland. Many of its routes overlap with Aegean and Olympic Air, so the same island can appear under more than one airline.

Good to know before you go

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

Greece uses the euro, so any ticket or fare you buy on the Greek side of the trip will be in euros. Since the island flights start in Athens, it helps to think of the capital as the point where the transatlantic part of the journey ends and a second, separate booking begins. In the summer months, the Aegean islands can bring the meltemi wind, so a Cycladic itinerary is worth keeping loose.