Greeks Preferring Trips Abroad for Christmas and New Year’s

Vienna, Austria.

Greeks are choosing international over domestic destinations for Christmas with Prague, Paris, Vienna, London and Zurich the top picks this year.

More specifically, according to AEGEAN’s latest booking system data, in addition to popular Christmas destinations, Greeks are also picking lesser-known holiday spots this year such as Copenhagen, Morocco, Innsbruck, Krakow, and Chisinau and long-haul destinations such as Cuba, Brazil and New York.

To meet the increased demand, Greece’s flag carrier AEGEAN has increased seats on international flights by 10 percent while flight capacity for destinations abroad is up by up to 80 percent for the Christmas holidays and by up to 70 percent for New Year’s.

Peak days for travel according to the airline is December 22 and December 23 with capacity at 85 percent to and from Athens and by 95 percent to and from Thessaloniki as well as on January 2, 2024.

The Top 5 Christmas destinations out of Thessaloniki this year are Paris, Larnaca, Zurich, Dusseldorf and Barcelona.

The “Asterokosmos” Christmas park in Thessaloniki.

In terms of domestic choices, Greeks will be traveling to Thessaloniki, Alexandroupolis, Ioannina, Heraklion and Chania (Crete). Many favorite winter destinations in Greece are already fully booked.

AEGEAN’s charter flights from Athens to Rovaniemi, and from Thessaloniki to Prague, Budapest, Basel, Vienna and Bratislava are also full.