Delta Airlines announces a new route to Greece as the country opens up

Delta Airlines has announced a new route to Athens, the capital of Greece.

With Greece now open for tourism, whether passengers are vaccinated or not, Delta airlines continues to adjust its transatlantic schedule to offer flights where passengers want to travel. This time, Delta has added a new route to Greece.

A new route to Greece

Starting 2nd July, Delta will fly daily to Athens from its largest hub at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. This route was last served in 2011 and will allow the airline to offer connections to over 140 cities across the US from its largest hub. Let’s see the schedule of this flight.

• Atlanta-Athens
• Departure time: 16:25
• Arrival time: 10:00 (the next day)
• Flight time: 10 hours and 35 minutes
• Flight number: DL222
• Frequency: Daily

• Athens-Atlanta
• Departure time: 12:20
• Arrival time: 17:35
• Flight time: 12 hours and 15 minutes
• Flight number: DL223
• Frequency: Daily

This route will complement Delta’s already announced resumption of services from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. Starting 28th May, from New York’s JFK International Airport, Delta will fly daily to the Capital of Greece. This will be the earliest that any US airline will start flights to Greece. From New York, passengers can connect to 44 US cities.

Flight schedule of New York-Athens-New York route:

• New York-Athens
• Departure time: 17:15
• Arrival time: 10:00 (the next day)
• Flight time: 9 hours and 45 minutes
• Flight number: DL202
• Frequency: Daily

• Athens-New York
• Departure time: 12:15
• Arrival time: 16:10
• Flight time: 10 hours and 55 minutes
• Flight number: DL203
• Frequency: Daily

The Atlanta route, however, is not an expansion of services. Delta had previously expected to fly two daily services between New York and Athens. Now, one daily flight will move over to Atlanta.

The move away from New York will allow Delta to offer more connections while also rationalizing the competitive landscape.

Delta will face some fierce competition on New York-Athens route as Emirates is planning to resume its fifth-freedom service between the two cities while American Airlines is set to launch a new service, as a result of its partnership with JetBlue, to Athens.

The Aircraft

Both routes will operate on 293-seat Airbus A330-300 aircraft featuring 34 reverse herringbone seats in business class in a 1-2-1 configuration, 40 seats of Comfort+ which is Delta’s extra-legroom economy product and 219 seats in standard economy. These two classes are in a 2-4-2 configuration.

All seats feature access to WiFi, power, and on-demand seatback entertainment. Delta offers its passengers complimentary messaging through select channels. Other passengers can purchase WiFi to stay connected via email or social media.

Delta adjusting its transatlantic schedule as countries open up

While Summer seasonal transatlantic flights get 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.

Catering to leisure travellers

Greece is a leisure-focused market. As Joe Esposito, Senior Vice President of Network Planning, Delta Airlines stated:

Customers are eager to reclaim their lives and for many that means traveling again. Outdoor-friendly destinations like Greece are particularly in demand and flying Delta means you can continue to expect award-winning hospitality with new services to make the entire journey more enjoyable, simple and stress-free.

As earlier reported, Greece is once again open for tourism for citizens of 32 countries. Passengers can travel without quarantine or testing requirements if they show proof of vaccination. For passengers who have not received the vaccine, Greece will allow you to enter the country if you show a negative PCR test issued up to 72 hours before arrival.

Note that regardless of whether you are vaccinated or not, the United States currently requires arriving passengers to provide proof of a negative PCR or antigen test result before boarding a flight. Passengers who travel to Greece will need to ensure that they can access testing before returning to the US.

Greece is also currently under lockdown, though that will ease shortly. Till 3rd May, Greece has nightly curfews from 21:00 to 05:00. Restaurants and cafés will also be allowed to reopen for outdoor services starting that day as well. All visitors will need to wear face coverings throughout Greece.

Featured image by Getty Images

Are you excited to fly with Delta Airlines to Greece this summer? Let me know in the comments section below.

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