Airline bookings for Athens and the islands are above initial estimates, after almost two years of absence from Greece due to the pandemic, with “El. Venizelos and the 14 regional airports are bringing in new routes.
The country’s largest airport, “Eleftherios Venizelos”, has high expectations from the American market, as many American and other airlines fly direct. At the same time, the upward trend of international arrivals continues for the four international airports of the South Aegean, as the first six days of June show an increase of 50% compared to the last six days of May, despite the decisions of the British government that act as a deterrent for the top “reservoir” of tourists for the islands of the South Aegean.
The upward trend in international arrivals for Rhodes airport, Kos, Mykonos and Santorini airport is reflected in official Fraport data, according to which, from June 1 to June 6, Aegean airports welcomed more than 150 international flights carrying more than 40,000 foreign visitors to the islands.
In detail, international arrivals in Rhodes were 18,132, in Kos 9,922, in Mykonos 5,559 and in Santorini 6,508. The above figures do not include passengers travelling via the “Eleftherios Venizelos” International Airport on domestic flights, but also passengers travelling via the ferry network.
Germans, French and Qataris
According to Fraport’s official data, the Germans continue in 2021 the “tradition” that makes them the leading market for attracting tourists to the South Aegean islands, holding the first place among the arriving passengers in Rhodes and Kos, with the Poles being the second for the moment for these two islands, continuing the increasing trend that they showed last year.
Similarly, for the international airports of the Cyclades, the French, Germans and Swiss are the top arrivals, while Mykonos also receives a proportion of visitors (around 10%) from Qatar.
Packages from companies
At the same time, 17 weekly flights to Athens and four islands are offered from Romania by the Romanian airline Blue Air, from the start of its summer 2021 flight schedule at the end of April.
Fares for one-way flights start from 19.99 euros, including taxes and a free change of reservation.
For the first time in its 16-year history, the airline is launching direct daily flights to Athens and twice-weekly flights to Baku.
In particular, the 17 weekly direct flights are: Bucharest – Athens (7 flights per week), Bacau – Athens (2 flights per week), Bucharest – Heraklion airport (2 flights per week), Bucharest – Rhodes (2 flights per week), Bucharest – Mykonos (2 flights per week), Bucharest – Zakynthos (2 flights per week).
Meanwhile an air bridge will, from 12 July, connect the island of Rhodes with the capital of the United Arab Emirates, by WizzAir airline. For the first time in the island’s tourist history, two direct flights per week (every Monday and Friday) are being introduced, linking it to Abu Dhabi, until at least the month of September.
Finally, Paros is being promoted by Qatar Airways Holidays, which will operate regular direct flights to Mykonos and Santorini, and will transport passengers wishing to visit Paros by ferry until the end of September 2021. Qatar’s weekly package includes round-trip flights to Qatar, arrival fast ferry tickets and special rates at selected hotels.