Foreign airlines choose Greece
With tourism arrivals expected to set a new record this summer, foreign airlines are strengthening their presence in the Greek market. These are not last-minute decisions, given that by early 2023 flights to Greece had already exceeded those of 2019.
Total capacity is significantly greater, also due to the numerous foreign airlines offering dozens of scheduled and chartered flights to Greece. These include Air Astana from Kazakhstan, which will connect Iraklio with Almaty, the largest city in the Central Asian country, with four flights per week, lasting 5.5-6.5 hours, from this Thursday.
Low-cost airline Pegasus will connect Istanbul with Rhodes and Mytilini twice a week from June 1. From June 14, Kuwait Airways will operate twice-a-week flights to Athens and Mykonos. These two Greek destinations have been chosen by the airline “after a thorough study based on sustainability and profitability,” according to Kuwait Airways Managing Director Maen Razouqi.
Korean Air is reconnecting Athens with Seoul through chartered flights, which were suspended for two years due to the pandemic. South Korea has a population of 52 million people of which 26 million travel abroad every year, with Greece looking to attract a fraction.
At the same time, players which are consistently present in the Greek market are expanding their presence. They include the TUI tourism group, which has already increased by 250,000 the seats offered to and from Greece for summer 2024, operating 144 flights per week through TUIfly. According to TUI, the highest demand for Greece traditionally comes from Britain and Germany, confirmed by passenger traffic data at the 14 regional airports operated by Fraport. In April, total arrivals and departures from the UK and Germany respectively reached around 500,000.
British airline Jet2, associated to the Jet2holidays tour operator, has created its largest flight program ever for Greece this year, offering more than 400,000 seats to and from South Aegean islands, twice the number in 2019.
Ireland’s Aer Lingus, moreover, is connecting Dublin with Athens and Kos through four and two flights per week, respectively, having this year increased the frequency of routes to and from Athens.
