On the departures board in Athens, the island names scroll past like a menu: Naxos, Milos, Skiathos, Kos, Santorini. The board shows the daily rhythm of a country where flying is often the fastest way between islands. Athens International Airport receives the nonstop flights from North America, Thessaloniki has its own international airport, and airports on Crete, Corfu, Kefalonia, Zakynthos, Kos, Rhodes, Santorini and Mykonos put you directly on the islands.
Which airports serve visitors in Greece?
Visitors reach Greece through Athens International Airport, Thessaloniki International Airport and a set of regional airports on the mainland and the islands. Each has its own airlines and its own list of routes, so the airport you choose shapes which cities you can fly from and where you can go next.
Athens International Airport
Athens International Airport ‘Eleftherios Venizelos’ serves Athens and sits in Spata, Attica. It is the airport where nonstop flights from the United States and Canada arrive, and it is also the hub for flights onward to Greek islands and cities. Aegean Airlines, Olympic Air and Sky Express all fly from here to domestic destinations.
| Airline | Nonstop from Athens to |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Air Canada (seasonal) | Montréal-Trudeau, Toronto-Pearson |
| Air Transat (seasonal) | Montréal-Trudeau, Toronto-Pearson |
Aegean Airlines also flies nonstop from Athens to European cities such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Lisbon, London-Heathrow, Madrid, Munich, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Rome-Fiumicino, Vienna and Zurich. For a traveler coming from the U.S. by way of Europe, that list means a Greek flight can be picked up in many of the continent’s cities.
Thessaloniki International Airport
Thessaloniki International Airport ‘Macedonia’ serves the city of Thessaloniki and is located in Mikra, Central Macedonia. It is a mainland airport with its own place on the island map, because Aegean Airlines links it with Chania and Kos, and seasonally with Milos.
That makes Thessaloniki a starting point for someone who wants to reach those islands without passing through the capital. The airport also appears on the Sky Express network from Athens, so the two cities are tied together by more than one carrier.
The regional airports run by Fraport
Fraport started managing 14 Greek regional airports on April 11, 2017. The concession period is 40 years, and the contract with the Greek energy firm Copelouzos is valued at 1.2 billion euros.
Fraport has published a master plan for each of these airports, including computer renderings of how the exteriors will look once construction works are completed. General aviation aircraft owners from Greece and abroad have filed complaints about high pricing and a lack of parking spaces at the airports Fraport operates.
Which islands have airports?
Many Greek islands have an airport, from Crete and Corfu to small Aegean islands such as Astypalaia, Leros and Kithira. Athens connects to a long list of them, and a few have direct links with other Greek or European cities as well.
Crete: Heraklion and Chania
Heraklion International Airport ‘Nikos Kazantzakis’ is on the island, and Chania International Airport ‘Ioannis Daskalogiannis’ is in Souda. Aegean Airlines and Sky Express both fly nonstop from Athens to Heraklion and Chania, and Olympic Air flies to Sitia.
From Chania, Aegean Airlines flies nonstop to Athens and Thessaloniki, and seasonally to Rhodes. A long seasonal list of European routes completes the picture: Ryanair and easyJet to British cities, British Airways to London-Gatwick, Scandinavian Airlines and Norwegian to Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm-Arlanda, and Eurowings and Discover Airlines to German cities such as Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich.
The Ionian Islands: Corfu, Kefalonia and Zakynthos
Corfu Island International Airport ‘Ioannis Kapodistrias’ is on the island of Corfu (Kerkira). Aegean Airlines flies from here to Athens year-round and to Heraklion seasonally, while Sky Express flies seasonally to Preveza, Kefalonia and Zakynthos. Seasonal European routes come from easyJet, Jet2.com, TUI fly Deutschland, TUI fly Netherlands, Wizz Air, Swiss (to Geneva) and Transavia (to Nantes and Rotterdam/The Hague).
Kefalonia Island International Airport ‘Anna Pollatou’ serves Kefalonia, with Aegean Airlines nonstop to Athens. Seasonal nonstop flights run to London-Heathrow, Vienna, Munich, Oslo, Zurich and Amsterdam, plus a seasonal charter to Belgrade and flights to Tel Aviv and St. Gallen/Altenrhein. Zakynthos Island International Airport ‘Dionisios Solomos’ is on Zakynthos, and Olympic Air flies there from Athens.
The Dodecanese: Kos and Rhodes
Kos Island International Airport ‘Hippocrates’ is on Kos in the Dodecanese, and Rhodes Island International Airport ‘Diagoras’ serves Rhodes. Aegean Airlines flies from Kos to Athens and Thessaloniki, with seasonal flights to Heraklion. Sky Express links Kos with Astypalaia, Athens, Kalymnos, Leros and Rhodes.
Kos also has a long seasonal list from Britain, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Jet2.com flies to thirteen British cities, easyJet to Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, London-Gatwick and Manchester, and Condor, Eurowings, Transavia and TUI fly Netherlands add German and Dutch cities.
The Cyclades and the smaller islands
Santorini (Thira) Island National Airport ‘Zefiros’ is on Santorini, and Mykonos Island National Airport ‘Dilos’ is on Mykonos. Aegean Airlines flies to both from Athens, and Sky Express does the same. Naxos, Paros, Milos and Syros are served from Athens by Sky Express, and Olympic Air flies to Naxos, Paros and Milos.
The old Paros National Airport in Paros closed in 2016. Beyond the Cyclades, Olympic Air also flies from Athens to Ikaria, Karpathos, Kithira, Leros, Skiathos, Skyros and Sitia, and Sky Express reaches Chios, Lemnos, Mytilene, Samos, Astypalaia and Kalymnos. Milos has a seasonal Aegean flight to Thessaloniki.
How do you choose?
You choose by the route map: start from the island or city you want to reach, see which airport serves it, and then look for the carriers that fly there from your departure point.
If you are flying in from North America
Athens is the airport where the nonstop flights from U.S. and Canadian cities arrive. American Airlines, United, Emirates and Norse Atlantic fly to U.S. cities, while Air Canada and Air Transat fly to Montréal and Toronto. Most of the American services are seasonal, and Emirates operates its Newark service without a season given.
From Athens the three domestic carriers fan out across the islands. Aegean Airlines reaches Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes, Corfu and Heraklion, among others. Olympic Air flies to Naxos, Paros, Milos and Skiathos. Sky Express adds Syros, Astypalaia, Kalymnos and Zakynthos to the list.
If you are heading to a particular island
Some islands have links beyond Athens. If your plan combines places, the routes from Chania, Corfu, Kefalonia, Kos and Milos show what is possible without returning to the capital.
| Airport | Flights to other Greek airports |
|---|---|
| Chania | Athens, Thessaloniki, Rhodes (seasonal) |
| Corfu | Athens (year-round), Heraklion (seasonal), Preveza, Kefalonia, Zakynthos |
| Kefalonia | Athens |
| Kos | Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion (seasonal), Astypalaia, Kalymnos, Leros, Rhodes |
| Milos | Thessaloniki (seasonal) |
A traveler building a trip around the Ionian Islands will see that Sky Express links Corfu with Kefalonia and Zakynthos seasonally. Someone starting a Dodecanese trip will find that Kos is linked with Rhodes, Kalymnos, Leros and Astypalaia by Sky Express.
If you are coming from Europe
A traveler arriving from Europe has the widest choice. Many cities in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and central Europe have seasonal flights straight to Chania, Corfu, Kefalonia and Kos. Passing through Athens remains possible too, since Aegean Airlines flies there from cities such as Frankfurt, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and London-Heathrow.
Good to know before you go
Greek airports carry a personal name next to the town, so a boarding pass or a booking may show Eleftherios Venizelos for Athens, Macedonia for Thessaloniki or Nikos Kazantzakis for Heraklion. The same goes for Ioannis Daskalogiannis in Chania, Ioannis Kapodistrias in Corfu, Anna Pollatou in Kefalonia, Dionisios Solomos in Zakynthos, Hippocrates in Kos, Diagoras in Rhodes, Zefiros in Santorini and Dilos in Mykonos. Knowing that the name and the town are the same airport avoids confusion when a route is listed under one or the other.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Athens International Airport, airlines and destinations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/athens-destinations#Airlines_and_destinations), checked October 12, 2026
- Wikipedia, Chania Airport, airlines and destinations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/chania-destinations#Airlines_and_destinations), checked October 12, 2026
- Wikipedia, Corfu Airport, airlines and destinations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/corfu-destinations#Airlines_and_destinations), checked October 12, 2026
- Wikipedia, Fraport (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraport), checked October 12, 2026
- Wikipedia, Kefalonia Airport, airlines and destinations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/kefalonia-destinations#Airlines_and_destinations), checked October 12, 2026
- Wikipedia, Kos Airport, airlines and destinations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/kos-destinations#Airlines_and_destinations), checked October 12, 2026
- Wikipedia, List of airports in Greece (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_in_Greece), checked October 12, 2026
- Wikipedia, Milos Airport, airlines and destinations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/milos-destinations#Airlines_and_destinations), checked October 12, 2026