With Greece now open to Americans, Delta Air Lines is continuing to adjust its transatlantic schedule to offer flights to where people want to travel.
In this post:
Delta will operate two routes to Greece
For the summer of 2021, Delta will operate two seasonal routes to Greece:
- As of May 28, 2021, Delta will operate its typical 2x daily New York to Athens flight (this is the earliest start date for any airline offering flights between the US and Greece this summer)
- As of July 2, 2021, Delta will operate a daily Atlanta to Athens flight, which represents the first time in a decade that this route is operated
Delta will operate two routes to Greece this summer
Delta will use an Airbus A330-300 for both routes, featuring 293 seats. This includes reverse herringbone seats in business class, as well as Delta’s Comfort+ cabin, featuring extra legroom economy seats. Delta also offers personal televisions at every seat, plus Wi-Fi.
Delta will fly A330s to Greece
Delta is doing a good job adapting its route network
While historically summer seasonal transatlantic flights have been scheduled far in advance, this year is a different story, since airlines are adjusting capacity based on where Americans are allowed to travel.
Recently Delta announced it would expand in Iceland this summer, following the news that vaccinated Americans could travel to Iceland. United has similarly adjusted its schedule, as the airline recently announced more transatlantic flights to Croatia, Greece, and Iceland, all of which are open to Americans.
American is the outlier among the “big three” US airlines, as American hasn’t announced any additional transatlantic flights following the news of certain countries opening. While American will operate flights to Greece this summer, the airline won’t offer any flights to Croatia or Iceland, despite both places being open to Americans.
Delta will be adding capacity to Iceland this summer
Bottom line
Delta will be adding a second route to Greece this summer, as the airline will operate nonstop flights between Atlanta and Athens for the first time in a decade. It’s cool to see the pace at which airlines are adapting to changing restrictions. Well, at least that’s the case at Delta and United, while American doesn’t seem to be trying many new long haul routes.
What do you make of Delta’s expanded service to Greece?
It seems the Swissport Executive Lounge at ATH is temporarily closed due to COVID. This is the lounge Delta is affiliated with at ATH. We are flying Delta One next month on the new ATH-ATL flight. Does anyone know if there’s another lounge option for Delta passengers under these circumstances? I don’t see anything listed at delta.com.
When vaccine supply outstrips demand and there are still export bans...
@Ralph4878,
“ As long as the States hoards the Pfizer and Moderna jabs”
Apparently, “vaccinating its citizens” = hoarding.
The chip on your shoulder is showing!
@Ada archeological sites are open. Starting May 3 so are restaurants. If your trip is after May 14, then everything will be open. If you plan to swim, I suggest waiting till end of June onward so the sea is warm.
So happy to see travel resuming in the Northern Hemisphere where cultures can link together.
Meanwhile here in the People’s Democratic Republic of Koalastan a whole city has been shut down because of two cases and domestic travel bans introduced. All whilst the trade minister flies overseas and back no questions asked.
@shoeguy - please stop with the "least effective vaccine..." nonsense - it just fuels the flames of vaccine hesitancy and disinformation. Both the AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines are extremely effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization, and death. As long as the States hoards the Pfizer and Moderna jabs, AZ and J&J are the vaccines that will get the world back to some sort of normalcy in the near future.
@ Ed yes. They are available at every pharmacy you go there, over the counter. Pcr.
Before they expire, I am extremely anxious to use up my 3 hotel vouchers for Corfu, Thessaloniki, and the Sofitel Athens Airport for a trip I was supposed to take last May. But what’s the point of going to Greece now if the country is still in lockdown, if archaeological sites and other attractions are closed, if restaurants are takeout and delivery only, and if one is not permitted to travel from one region to another?
@Philly380 My anecdotal experience doesn't support J availability. When AA pulled the PHL-ATH flight from the schedule last week, there were a cascade of schedule changes. I spent over an hour on the phone trying to get my flights adjusted because J availability was extremely limited on the days I was flying (even looking a couple days before and after).
@Sharon is Israel opening to US tourists? I’m not seeing that they are allowing just yet
pretty sure we'll see nice PE or J deals to Athens with too much capacity. I want to go but little unsure if they have robust testing capacity (with quick turnarounds) to sustain large # of tourists.
Not only that, but Delta have loaded into their schedule Athens to New York year round (twice daily in the summer, daily in the winter). They haven't operated in the winter since 2012 I think. This is great to see. In the early 2010s, there was maybe one flight a day to the US from Athens. Now there will be 8 flights a day in the summer. What a comeback.
Does Greece have tens of thousands of tests available for Americans who need these to be able to travel back to the US? Does Greece have this healthcare capacity?
American wasn't planning to fly PHL-ATH this summer, particularly after JFK-ATH was announced. Not because JFK competes with PHL but because, according to AA there is a crew scheduling issue for this route out of PHL that was not resolved since the A330s were removed from the fleet. ORD-ATH is a 788 and JFK-ATH will be a 772.
The wide-eyed approach to travel to Greece is overly optimistic. Summer 2021 is sadly not the...
American wasn't planning to fly PHL-ATH this summer, particularly after JFK-ATH was announced. Not because JFK competes with PHL but because, according to AA there is a crew scheduling issue for this route out of PHL that was not resolved since the A330s were removed from the fleet. ORD-ATH is a 788 and JFK-ATH will be a 772.
The wide-eyed approach to travel to Greece is overly optimistic. Summer 2021 is sadly not the one for travel to any of Europe. Vaccine uptake is slow due to EU bureaucracy, vaccine hesitancy, and the least currently effective vaccines being used there (Astra Zeneca and J&J) with the Sputnik one thrown in here and there for Italy.
It's a roll of the dice. Delta might have wanted to hold with 1 JFK-ATH, not 2, and see how it goes closer to start date. ATL-ATH makes sense. They can fill a plane at their mega hub and they kind of have to offer it given what AA and UA are doing.
Would be nice if the west coast got some seasonal routes to smaller hubs in Europe...
from JFK
that's odd. American has though added seasonal service to Athens this summer
American actually removed PHL-ATH from their schedule last week (for June & July). Odd timing.
Delta has not added service to Croatia.
Delta serves Athens and Tel Aviv 2x daily from JFK, not just 'daily'
Greece only has 17% of the pop with 1 shot, not very good. I am worried about their reopeing.
Tel Aviv is a much safer destination from COVID perspective with almost 60% fully vaccinated.
I remember flying this route pretty much 10 yrs ago lol. It was only for a very short time. It was on a 767-3(or4) I think. It had the old TV sets still hanging down from the ceilings lol! I hope they keep it longer this time around.