Greece › Flights
Updated: January 26, 2023
By Santorini Dave
See Also
- Greece Travel Guide
- Santorini Travel Guide
- Mykonos Travel Guide
- Crete Travel Guide
- Athens Travel Guide
Flights to Greece – My Advice
- Kayak.com is the best website for finding cheap fares.
- The best time to buy flights is between November and March.
- To save money on your trip try to fly in and out of different cities or islands (and save the expense and time required for backtracking). e.g. Fly into Athens (London to Athens) but fly out of Santorini (Santorini to London).
- There are direct flights to many of the best Greek islands from the large hub-cities in Western Europe (e.g. London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt) but most people get to the islands by flying to Athens and then taking a ferry or another flight to their final destination.
Cheapest Flights to Greece
Route Cost Cheapest Airline NYC to Athens $510 Lufthansa NYC to Santorini $300 Lufthansa, Volotea London to Athens £23 Ryanair London to Santorini £28 Ryanair Paris to Athens €63 Aegean Airlines Paris to Santorini €128 Transavia Rome to Athens €78 Aegean Rome to Santorini €125 Aegean Athens to Santorini €37 Sky Express Athens to Mykonos €38 Volotea
Flights to Athens, Greece
Airlines that Fly to Greece
All Airlines Flying to Greece
• Aer Lingus
• Aeroflot
• airBaltic
• Air Canada
• Air China
• Air France
• Air Serbia
• Air Transat
• Alitalia
• American
• Austrian Airlines
• British Airways
• Brussels Airlines
• Condor
• Delta
• EasyJet
• EgyptAir
• EL AL Israel Airlines
• Emirates
• Etihad Airways
• Eurowings
• Finnair
• Flydubai
• Gulf Air
• Iberia
• JetBlue
• KLM
• LOT
• Lufthansa
• Norwegian Air
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Jordanian
• Ryanair
• SAS
• Scoot
• Singapore Airlines
• SWISS
• TAP Air Portugal
• Transavia
• TUI
• Turkish Airlines
• Ukraine Airways
• United
• Vueling
• Wizz AirAirlines with Direct Flights from the United States to Greece
• American
• British Airways
• Delta
• Emirates
• Iberia
• Lufthansa
• United
What is the cheapest month to fly to Greece?
The most expensive months to fly to Greece are July and August. June and September are nearly as costly. The cheapest months to fly to Greece are January and February.
How far in advance should I book a flight to Greece?
The best time to book flights is between 6 and 10 months before your planned travel dates. For summer visits try to book in November, December, January, or February. The earlier you book flights the cheaper your flight will be.
Flights from USA & Canada to Greece
There are direct flights to Athens from New York, Toronto, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Montreal but from all other North American cities, you need to fly via western Europe (or through those North American cities). Popular and easy stopovers on the way to Greece are London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Rome, and Barcelona which all have direct flights to Athens and some Greek islands. There are no direct flights from the USA or Canada to any Greek island.
Flights from UK and Ireland to Greece
There are direct flights to many Greek islands from London and Manchester. There are direct flights to Athens from London, Manchester, Dublin, Bristol, and Edinburgh – and then from Athens you can fly or ferry to the Greek islands.
Flights from France to Greece
Paris is the hub for most flights between France and Greece. There are direct flights from Paris to Athens and all Greek islands that have an international airport. There are direct flights to Athens from Strasbourg, Marseilles, Nice, Lyon, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Nantes – and then from Athens you can fly or ferry to the Greek islands.
Flights from Italy to Greece
The are flights to Athens from Rome, Venice, Milan, Florence, Pisa, Bologna, Verona, Genoa, Turin, Bari, and Palermo. There are direct flights in summer to Santorini and a few other popular Greek islands from Rome, Venice, Milan, Pisa, Florence, Bologna, and Turin.
Flights from Athens to the Greek Islands
There are international and domestic flights to the Greek islands of Santorini, Mykonos, Crete, Rhodes, Kos, Skiathos, Lesvos, Samos, Kefalonia, Zakynthos, and Corfu. There are also domestic-only airports on Naxos, Paros, Syros, Skiathos, and Chios. Typically flights from Athens to the islands run year round, while international routes operate only during the summer tourist season.
There are no scheduled direct flights between Mykonos and Santorini. This could change but as of now, travelers need to take a direct ferry between the two islands or fly via Athens on Olympic or Aegean airlines.
There are no scheduled direct flights between Crete and Santorini. Some years there are flights with Sky Express Airlines and schedules can change with little notice so take a look to see if they’ve added recent flights for your dates. Otherwise, travelers need to take a direct ferry between the two islands or fly via Athens on Olympic or Aegean airlines.
I'm Santorini Dave. I started this site in 2011 with a short article on tips for visiting Santorini with kids. We're now a small team of writers and researchers dedicated to providing the best travel content on the internet. We focus on 
I am flying from Istanbul to Athens in August. Is 90 minutes enough to make a flight to Paros?
I’m comfortable with 1.5 hours between flights. 90 minutes is almost always enough time to connect flights in Athens – as long as your flight from Istanbul is on time to arrive in Athens (which is not a certainty).
How far out should you book the inter-island flights in Greece? We are traveling in October/early November. Of course, the price dropped for a day then went back up, do they usually drop again closer to the date or just keep going up? And how early do you have to check-in for your flight? There’s an option for a 7am flight out of Santorini but it’s so early so I’m not so sure about it.
Yes, book flights (both international and Greek domestic) as early as possible. I very rarely see prices drop as the dates get closer. Usually the opposite and prices increase.
What a great website!
How strict are the Volotea, Aegean, and Olympic when it comes to carry-on luggage? Do they actually measure them before you board the plane?
One more question: we are flying back from Santorini to Athens to catch a flight to Istanbul. Is the international terminal at the Athens airport far away from the domestic terminal?
Thank you so much for your advice.
I find most airlines in Europe are pretty strict with carry-on baggage. Assume that only appropriate-sized luggage will be allowed on. And the Athens airport is fairly compact and it’s easy to get from international to domestic flights (and vice versa) in a short amount of time.
We are interested in going to Greece next June /July. We are thinking of flying into Athens staying there for a couple of days and then taking a 7-10 day small boat excursion from Island to island. Do you think this is a good idea and if so can you recommend anyone.
Sounds great. Book hotels and ferries separately (on Booking.com and Ferryhopper.com). Avoid a package trip for the islands.
My boyfriend and I are trying to book a three week vacation to Greece late April – early May. We are struggling with booking a multi-city vacation. In past vacations we just booked on Expedia and stayed at the same place for the entirety of our trips. Expedia unfortunately doesn’t allow you to input separate hotels, etc. How would you recommend going about this, booking the flights and hotels all separately? Is there a good multi-city booking website that we missed?
Thanks a lot for your very detailed articles, I love your site!
No need to book everything together. I’d recommend booking international flights through Kayak.com. Book ferries through Ferryhopper.com. And book hotels through Booking.com (separately for each destination). It might sound tricky, but it’s all pretty easy once you get going.
I arrive at 4:45pm into Athens and want to get a flight to Santorini the same day. How much time do I realistically need between flights? I would like to take the 5:50pm but it may be tight?
Yes, that is tight. Could you make? For sure. But it would not take much for you to miss that flight.
Hey Dave,
Your site has been so helpful in helping us plan our honeymoon, so thank you! We’ll be leaving Heraklion airport and likely catching the 8:15a flight to Athens, which is set to arrive at 9:05a. Our departing flight from Athens back home leaves at 11:20a, which means we only have just over two hours to make the flight. I read your above comment about feeling comfortable with 3.5 hours. Would we be cutting it too close in taking this 8:15a flight to Athens? There is an earlier flight that leaves at 6:35a, but I am not a morning person and absolutely dread the thought of waking up that early.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Eli
If your Santorini flight is on time then you should be fine. Most flights I take from Santorini are late departing. It could be an hour late and you’d still “probably” make it. It’s just how much risk you’re comfortable in taking. There’s no right answer.
What would the cheapest flight be from the U.S to Athens this summer (June)?
Probably from Newark. That would be my guess.
Dave, I have gotten SO much information from your site while planning our honeymoon to Greece! Im currently working on travel from Athens to Mykonos to Santorini and back to Athens. My main question is how reliable are some of these smaller airlines and which would you recommend? Ive read bad reviews on Volotea but Olympic and Aegean seem to be OK? The last thing I want is our honeymoon to be ruined by a cancelled flight or lost luggage. I realize I will need to book a ferry from Mykonos to Santorini as there are no direct flights. Time is more valuable to us so we are leaning towards flights but if ferries are more reliable then that might be the better option? I welcome any and all advice! Thanks, love the site.
Andrew Rattray
I have flown with all of the hose airlines and they’re all reliable. Volotea has the least leg room of the 3 but otherwise is fine. Flights leaving the islands are more likely to be late than flights arriving to the islands.
Dave, GREAT site – thank you! Visiting in June. Flying Athens to Mykonos then Santorini to Athens. 15:30 flight out of Athens. How much time is a suggested cushion in order to make the flight out of Athens? 4.5 hours okay?
Chris Rhodes
There are no guarantees but I’d be personally comfortable with anything over 3.5 hours (when traveling outbound).
Since there aren’t direct flights from Mykonos to Santorini in August what is the fastest and easiest way to get to Santorini from Mykonos? Is flying via Athens or a direct ferry the best way to get there?
Meg.
Taking the ferry is easier and takes about the same amount of time (maybe a little quicker most of the time, though it depends on what type of connection you can find in Athens). And waiting for a ferry is more relaxing than waiting at the airport.