The Carriers
Olympic Air, Aegean & Sky Express
Aegean Airlines is Greece's flag carrier and the dominant force in domestic aviation, operating a comprehensive network from Athens International Airport to islands including Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes, Corfu, Crete (Heraklion and Chania), Kos, Zakynthos, Kefalonia, Lesbos, Chios, and Samos.
Olympic Air, now a subsidiary of Aegean, operates many of the same routes and provides connectivity to smaller regional airports that the main carrier does not serve. Sky Express is an independent regional carrier offering routes from both Athens and Thessaloniki, including connections between islands that bypass the mainland entirely.
Domestic fares are generally reasonable, particularly when booked in advance. The Athens–Heraklion and Athens–Thessaloniki routes are the busiest and most competitive on price.
Island Airports
Flying to the Islands
Most of the major Greek islands have their own airports, many of which receive both domestic and international flights during the summer season. Santorini (Thira), Mykonos, Rhodes (Diagoras), Corfu (Ioannis Kapodistrias), and Heraklion (Nikos Kazantzakis) are the busiest island airports.
Smaller islands such as Paros, Naxos, Milos, Skiathos, and Ikaria have airports served primarily by domestic routes. For islands without airports — including many of the smaller Cyclades and Dodecanese — the ferry remains the only option.
Summer schedules are significantly more extensive than winter timetables. If travelling outside the peak season, always verify that your intended route is operating before finalising plans.