Greece Sees Strong Airline Seat Capacity in July: Over 5 Million

Airlines have scheduled over 5.1 million seats for Greece this month, marking a 7.8 percent increase compared to the same month last year, according to INSETE, the research body of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE).

Data from INSETE’s Air Data Tracker indicates that this increase reflects strong demand for Greece this year, with over 1.1 million airline seats available each week for inbound international flights in July.

The first week of July (8-14) saw 1.154 million scheduled airline seats with the number rising to over 1.162 million for the week of July 15-21. According to INSETE’s Air Data Tracker, this week – July 22-28 – over 1.164 million airline seats are scheduled.

The leading country of origin for these flights is the United Kingdom, followed by Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Israel, and Switzerland.

The airports with the highest volumes of tourists this month are Athens International Airport (AIA), followed by those at Heraklio, Rhodes, Corfu, Thessaloniki, Kos, Chania, Zakynthos, Santorini, and Mykonos.

It is noted that the airports on Santorini and Mykonos have fewer scheduled airline seats compared to the same month last year. Scheduled seats for Santorini are down by 1.2 percent for July, while those for Mykonos have decreased by 6.6 percent.

New tourism record expected this year

In any case, the rate of increase in arrivals and travel receipts in Greece compared to last year is impressive, and Greek tourism insiders are anticipating a new record.

Speaking to the media earlier this month, Yiannis Hatzis, president of the Hellenic Hoteliers Federation, expressed optimism that Greece will in fact set new records for tourist arrivals and revenues this year.

Hatzis highlighted an increase compared to 2023, noting a 12 percent rise in air arrivals and a 13 percent increase in road arrivals to Greece. He also indicated that actual revenues are expected to surpass those of 2019.

According to Hatzis, this season has seen a distribution of tourist traffic across more Greek destinations compared to last year.

“This is an encouraging development,” he said. However, the primary destinations for tourist flows this year remain Crete, Rhodes, Halkidiki, and the islands in the Cyclades.