Flights to Thessaloniki: Airlines, Airport Terminals and Getting to the City

Somewhere over the Aegean, a traveler with a window seat looks down at the gulf that curves around Thessaloniki and wonders whether the plane is the right way to reach northern Greece at all. For most trips from the U.S., the answer is a connection: no airline flies to Thessaloniki nonstop from an American or Canadian city, so you land somewhere in Europe or in Athens and continue from there. The airport itself is small enough to find your way around in minutes.

How do you fly to Thessaloniki?

You fly to Thessaloniki with one change of plane, because none of the airlines that serve the airport runs a nonstop flight from a U.S. or Canadian city. Aegean Airlines, British Airways, easyJet, Jet2.com, TUI Airways and Ryanair all appear on the airport’s list of carriers, and for every one of them the answer is the same: no nonstop to the United States or Canada. Your transatlantic leg ends elsewhere, and a second ticket or a connecting itinerary carries you the rest of the way.

The airport is the third-largest in Greece, after Athens International Airport and Heraklion International Airport. It opened to civilian traffic in 1948 and is operated today by Fraport Greece.

Besides the city of Thessaloniki, it serves Chalkidiki, the peninsula of beach towns that visitors come for, and the surrounding cities of Macedonia. So the same arrivals hall receives business travelers, families heading to the beaches and people on their way to smaller towns of the region.

Connecting through Athens or another Greek airport

Athens is the Greek connection that appears in the airport’s year-round schedule. Aegean Airlines operates year-round nonstop flights from Thessaloniki to Athens, so a traveler who crosses the Atlantic into Athens can continue north on the same carrier. The same year-round list includes Chania, Heraklion, Kalamata, Kos, Mytilene and Rhodes, which means Thessaloniki can also be a stop between the mainland and those islands.

Seasonal flights from Thessaloniki reach Milos, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Santorini, Syros and Zakynthos. For a trip that mixes the north of Greece with an island week, this is useful: you can land in one place and leave from another, or fly into Thessaloniki, explore Macedonia and then continue to an island without going back through Athens.

Connecting through Europe

British Airways, easyJet, Jet2.com, TUI Airways and Ryanair are all carriers that serve Thessaloniki Airport, and they are the names to look for when your route passes through another European city. Each of them, like Aegean, has no nonstop to a U.S. or Canadian city from Thessaloniki, so the long-haul flight and the flight into Thessaloniki are separate legs.

When you plan the connection, think of Thessaloniki as the end of a chain: the Atlantic crossing lands you in a hub, and the last flight brings you to a regional airport with two terminals, free Wi-Fi in both of them and a taxi rank outside the door.

The two terminals and the gates

Thessaloniki Airport has two terminals. Terminal 1 has departure gates numbered 13 to 24, and Terminal 2, an additional building that opened at the beginning of 2021, has gates numbered 01 to 12. Your boarding pass tells you which side you leave from, and the gate number alone tells you which building it is. Passengers can use free Wi-Fi in both terminals, which helps when a connection is tight or when you want to check the bus and taxi options before you walk out.

Which airlines serve Thessaloniki Airport?

Aegean Airlines, Olympic Air, British Airways, easyJet, Jet2.com, TUI Airways and Ryanair all serve Thessaloniki Airport, and none of them flies nonstop to a U.S. or Canadian city. The split is clear: Greek carriers cover the domestic map, and the British and low-cost carriers cover routes to other European cities.

Aegean Airlines

Aegean is the airline with the longest list of Greek destinations from Thessaloniki. Year-round nonstop flights go to Athens, Chania, Heraklion, Kalamata, Kos, Mytilene and Rhodes. That is a mix of the capital, the large island of Crete (through Chania and Heraklion), the Peloponnese (Kalamata) and the eastern Aegean (Kos, Mytilene, Rhodes).

In the season, the list grows with Milos, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Santorini, Syros and Zakynthos. These are the island names that fill a Greek vacation wish list, and Thessaloniki is a starting point for them. Aegean also does not fly nonstop from Thessaloniki to any U.S. or Canadian city, so it is a carrier for the Greek and connecting leg of your journey.

Olympic Air

Olympic Air operates nonstop flights from Thessaloniki to the Greek islands of Chios, Ikaria, Lemnos and Samos. These are islands of the northern and eastern Aegean, less often on a first-time itinerary than Santorini or Mykonos, and the flights link them directly to the north of the mainland. If your plan is to follow the Aegean from one island to another, this is the carrier that adds Chios, Ikaria, Lemnos and Samos to the Aegean list above.

British and low-cost carriers

British Airways, easyJet, Jet2.com, TUI Airways and Ryanair all serve the airport. None of them flies from a U.S. or Canadian city nonstop to Thessaloniki.

How do you get to the city?

You get to the city by bus or by taxi, since the airport sits 8 miles southeast of Thessaloniki, in Thermi, and both are available at all hours. Bus 01X/01N of the Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organization (OASTH) serves the airport 24 hours a day, and taxis wait outside the terminal building around the clock.

By bus

The OASTH bus 01X/01N is the public transport link, and it runs 24 hours a day. That matters on a late arrival, when a flight lands after the usual hours and you still want a way into town that does not depend on a daytime timetable.

The bus is the choice for travelers with a light bag who want to arrive the way residents do.

By taxi

Taxi services are available outside the terminal building 24 hours a day. You step out of the arrivals hall, find the rank and give the driver the name of your hotel or the address of your rental. The airport lies in Thermi, 8 miles southeast of the city, so this is a ride from the edge of the urban area into the center. A taxi is a natural fit for a group, for heavy luggage or for a night arrival when you would rather go straight to the door.

By car

There are 2,285 parking spaces for cars in front of the terminal building. That tells you the airport is built for people who drive to it, and it is the place where a traveler heading for Chalkidiki or elsewhere in Macedonia may start a road trip, since the airport serves that peninsula and the surrounding cities. If you are not driving, the bus and the taxi are the two ways the airport itself offers into town.

Good to know before you go

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

Thessaloniki Airport is a regional airport with two terminals, free Wi-Fi in both and taxis outside at every hour, so you can sort out the last details of the trip once you land. Because every airline on the list connects you from another city rather than flying nonstop from the U.S., allow for the change of plane when you look at your arrival day. Carry some euros for the taxi or the bus, and keep your onward plans, whether to Chalkidiki, to Macedonia or to an island flight, in mind as you leave the terminal.