Last Updated on February 5, 2026 by George Pavlopoulos
Domestic flights in Greece provide an excellent alternative for reaching your destination if you’re on a tight schedule. Most international travelers will need to arrive at Athens International Airport before heading to the Greek islands. However, ferries might take 12 or even 15 hours to reach the final destination on the most remote islands in Greece. To some, this easily translates to a lost day of vacation.
Therefore, if you’re not a fan of slow journeys, taking a domestic flight from Athens to the Greek islands is definitely an option to consider. As a Greek, I have traveled extensively in the Greek islands and used every mode of transportation: airplanes, ferries, catamarans, and even fishing vessels. However, flying is the most time-efficient way of traveling to the Greek islands, especially the distant ones.
In this article, I will show you how to book flights within Greece. In addition, I’ll share information about Greek domestic airlines and offer tips for finding the best flight deals. Last but not least, I’ll also share all the Greek islands with airports to further help with your Greek holiday planning.
Let’s start.
*Some links are affiliate links. It means that if you buy something, I might earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Domestic flights in Greece: How to book your tickets
As you will see in the next section of the article, Greece is home to various airlines. That said, although you can’t visit every Greek island by plane, you can reach some of them at least. Here is my workflow for flying to a Greek island from Athens.
First option: Check Aegean Airlines
Aegean Airlines is Greece’s flag carrier. It is the country’s largest airline and a Star Alliance Member, operating several international itineraries. Moreover, Aegean Airlines serves many domestic destinations, most of which are toward the Greek islands. Additionally, Aegean Airlines acquired Olympic Airways’ fleet, consisting of smaller planes that can land safely on the short runways of the Greek islands.
Therefore, if you head to the official Aegean Airlines website, you can use the dropdown menu to choose the destination you’d like to fly to. After adding your dates, you will see the available flights. It’s actually convenient that you can book flights on both Aegean and Olympic Air. Last but not least, Aegean is a Star Alliance Member, so make sure to add your Star Alliance Card Number and earn miles.
Greek domestic flights tip: the Aegean Pass
In recent years, Aegean Airlines introduced the Aegean Pass. This pass lets you prepay for a set number of flights (6 or 10) at a fixed price. Of course, it doesn’t make much sense if you only plan to visit one island. However, if you’d like to fly to more than one Greek island, the pass is a great option to reduce expenses.
You can learn more about the Aegean Pass on the company’s website.
I also reviewed the pass and offered some tips for a Greek island vacation in a separate article. You can read about the Aegean Pass and how to use it here.
Second option: Book via Kiwi
As I wrote earlier, various Greek and international airlines operate domestic flights from Athens to the islands. Although most domestic destinations are served by Aegean and Olympic, some islands are only reachable by other carriers. In addition to bigger islands like Santorini or Crete, you can often find flights by two or three airlines. This means prices can be more competitive, and if budget is a concern, it’s always good to check the options.
To find all airlines flying to your destination, I recommend visiting the Kiwi website. In my opinion, Kiwi is the best flight aggregator, and I have found great deals through their search engine. Kiwi is always up to date and includes seasonal flights to the Greek islands in its search results. Companies like Volotea or Ryanair have scheduled flights all summer long, and you can find the best prices via Kiwi.
You can use Kiwi’s powerful search engine here.
Tip: I’ve recently been using Kayak for flights and stays. Compare with KiWi to get the best results for flights and accommodations!
Domestic direct flights in Greece: travel tips
In this section of the guide, I’ll share two of my favorite travel tips about internal flights in Greece. To make the most of your Greek vacation, it is important to pre-plan correctly. Greece is one of the most beloved destinations in the world, but there are also some things to keep in mind. Although this guide is dedicated to booking domestic direct flights in Greece, you can also find 10 things you need to know for your Greek vacation here.
Keep in mind the island clusters when booking Greek domestic flights
Greece has several island clusters, meaning you can fly to the biggest island and get to the smaller ones by ferry. For example, if you want to reach Symi in the Dodecanese, you’ll need to take a ferry from Piraeus that takes almost 17 hours. However, a great alternative is to fly from Athens to Rhodes in one hour and take a ferry to Symi, which takes roughly another hour.
To get a better impression of the country, Greece has more than 6,000 islands. However, approximately only 230 of them are inhabited, and only 80 have more than 100 inhabitants. Therefore, flying to the biggest island(s) of an island cluster provides a great shortcut. And, if that’s not your final destination, you can reach every other island within a few hours.
To help you plan your domestic flights in Greece, I’ll share every Greek island with an airport, categorized by cluster. Consider flying to one of the islands with an airport to reduce travel times and, of course, continue with a ferry to your final destination. Please remember that in most cases, direct flights between Greek islands are not possible.
Airports in the Cyclades
The raw landscape of the Cyclades attracts millions of visitors every year. Some of Greece’s most iconic islands are located in the Cyclades. For a cluster of its size, the Cyclades are home to many airports. And here’s where you can fly to.
- Syros
- Mykonos
- Paros
- Naxos
- Milos
- Santorini
Aegean Airlines (and Olympic) fly to most of these destinations. While I always prefer the ferry to Syros and Mykonos, islands like Santorini and Naxos are much faster to reach by plane. For example, you’ll need about 40 minutes to Santorini by plane, but almost 6 hours by ferry.
Airports in the Dodecanese
Greece’s second most famous island cluster is located on the country’s eastern edge. Although its name stands for “Twelve Islands,” in reality, there are more in the cluster. Flying to the Dodecanese is a no-brainer because most journeys last 12-14 hours, and sometimes they can be close to 20 hours if there are delays.
Here are the islands you can fly to in the Dodecanese from Athens.
- Rhodes
- Kalymnos
- Kos
- Leros
- Astypalaia
- Karpathos
- Kasos
As you can see, plenty of islands have an airport in this cluster. The biggest ones are Rhodes and Kos, and from there, you can visit every other island belonging to the Dodecanese.
Airports in the North Aegean islands
The North Aegean islands are yet to be discovered by international mass tourism. The landscape is sweeter than in the Cyclades, but they are great holiday destinations. There are, of course, some airports in the region. Specifically:
- Limnos
- Mitilini (Lesvos)
- Samos
- Ikaria
- Chios
Airports in the Ionian islands
The Ionian Islands -known as the “Seven Islands” in Greece- are famous for their turquoise waters and serene landscape. Almost every island in this cluster has an airport, and reaching them is very easy. So, here are the Ionian islands with an airport:
- Corfu (Kerkyra)
- Kefalonia
- Zakynthos
- Kythera
Apart from Kythera in the very south, it’s easy to travel between the rest of the seven islands by ferry.
Airports in Crete
Crete is Greece’s largest island, and its cluster includes several smaller islands. However, Crete is the only island on this side of Greece serving flights. In fact, there are three airports in Crete:
- Chania
- Heraklion
- Sitia National Airport
Exploring Crete is a great experience in itself. I wrote a separate article about traveling between Athens and Crete here. Check it out.
Airports in the Sporades
Finally, there are also airports in the beautiful Sporades. This island cluster with the odd name is famous for its beautiful beaches. Sporades translates to something like “the scattered islands,” and here are the islands you can fly to:
- Skiathos
- Skiros
The flights from Athens to the Sporades are short, and it’s easy to travel between the islands.
Consider business class flights for miles
Domestic business-class flights in Greece might not be worth it for most travelers. And the truth is that apart from lounge access to the Athens International Airport, some extra space when flying (i.e., blocked middle seat), and proper in-flight lunch/dinner, there isn’t much more to expect.
However, flying domestic business class with Aegean Airlines translates to extra miles. In addition, the cost compared to the economy is usually not that significant. Therefore, if you’d like to earn miles to maintain your Miles Status, you can do so.
I have flown business class with Aegean several times, and I find their services excellent. You can read my Aegean Airlines business class review here.
Airlines operating domestic flights in Greece
In the final section of this article on internal flights in Greece, I will share a list of airlines operating domestic flights. I tried to include every carrier serving flights from Athens to the Greek islands. You can, of course, visit each airline’s website and see if they travel to your destination. However, as I already wrote, I find it better (and much easier) to do your research via Kiwi.
Here are the Greek airlines operating direct domestic flights in Greece.
- Aegean Airlines
- Olympic Air
- Sky Express Airlines
- Ellinair
During the summertime, you can often find flights from Athens to the bigger Greek islands with airlines like Volotea, Ryanair, and Easyjet. In addition, there are international charter flights to islands such as Rhodes and Santorini.
Domestic flights in Greece: Conclusion
The expenses of every journey to Greece are split between your international flights and domestic travel. Booking internal Greek flights can save you hours compared to ferries, but it often comes at a cost. On the other hand, the quality of Greek airlines ensures a fast, hassle-free trip to your destination.
Therefore, booking domestic flights in Greece is an excellent option if time is tight or you simply want to reach a Greek island quickly. So, make sure to check out the largest islands in the cluster and start planning your flights from Athens or Thessaloniki to Greece’s majestic islands.
More about Greece: The Ultimate Greek ferries guide, How to use Booking.com effectively
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