The fastest and most convenient way to travel to and around Greece is by airplane, an appealing alternative mostly for travellers who are pressing for time and prefer to travel without a vehicle.

Greece, a long-time favourite destination for convention planners, has an extensive network of domestic airlines and airports ensuring safe, fast, smooth and comfortable transportation of delegates to any convention centre or facility on the mainland or the islands.

National air carrier Olympic Airways and its commuter subsidiary Olympic Aviation provide the bulk of the air transportation services in Greece with regular flights to and from 34 domestic airports in mainland Greece and the islands, as well as to and from all major US, European, Australian, Far Eastern, Middle Eastern Asian and North African cities.

Several Greek private airlines have recently entered the market offering regular flights to major Greek and European destinations. Aegean Airlines, the European Regions Airlines (ERA) Gold Award winner of 2004/05 has offered the first real alternative to long-established Olympic Airlines and is winning fans and repeat flyers who find the combination of competitive prices and superior service hard to resist.

Moreover, air charters for executives and VIP flights, as well as air taxis, are also available for service on demand without the constrictions of airlines flight schedules. They can transfer delegates point-to-point at locations where their conventions are held, while remote locations or small islands without airports are served with helicopters. A total of 48 international carriers operating in Greece provide mostly international connections, while some domestic destinations are also served directly by foreign airlines, with charter or regular flights.

Greece has an extensive domestic network of 78 airports, 39 of which are international. The country’s most significant airports are located in Athens, Alexandroupolis, Kastoria and Thessaloniki in northern Greece, Heraklion on the island of Crete, and Rhodes.

The new state-of-the-art Athens International Airport β€œEleftherios Venizelos” (IAI), which opened on March 1, 2001, is designed with an initial capacity of 16 million passengers per year and twin runways allowing simultaneous departure and arrivals. Providing a quality of services that beyond those at β€œaverage airports”, AIA has become an important hubcap in the region, providing a full range of bank and postal services, as well as shops, restaurants, fully equipped booths with PCs, internet access and a complete package of supporting services for conferences and training seminars at specially arranged state-of-the-art Conference Rooms.

With congress tourism being a significant focus point in the sector, care has been taken for the easy and comfortable transportation of delegates to the location of their business meeting. Almost all of the convention centres or hotels with meeting facilities, either on the mainland or the islands, are located within close proximity to an airport.