Airlines operating flights to Greece have increased the availability of airline seats for trips to the country by 5.3% this year. 

The positive sign suggests an increase in international arrivals, if not by the same percentage, then close to that. However, the picture is not the same for all destinations. For example, in Athens, the availability of airline seats has increased this year by 8.7%, in Thessaloniki by 12.6% and in Kalamata by 9.9%, while in Araxos (near Patra) by 19.5%.

Iraklio, Rhodes, Corfu, Hania, Skiathos, Samos and Kavala, among others, have also gone up.

However, in Santorini, the available airline seats have decreased by 13.5% this year, while in Mykonos they are at similar levels to last year (+0.4%), as they are in Kefalonia. Mytilini and Karpathos also show a drop.

These figures stem from data collected and processed by the Airdata tracker of the Institute of the Greek Tourism Confederation (INSETE). They concern the scheduling of air seats for incoming international flights for the summer season (April-October 2025). By this data, the forecasts for the entire country for this year are moderately optimistic, although the latest developments in Israel and, in particular, tensions with Iran are reviving concerns about the effects geopolitical upheaval and military conflicts may have on travel behavior.

According to what Greek Tourism Confederation President Yiannis Paraschis said two days before the latest events in the Middle East, in the context of the organizations 33rd General Assembly, in January-March 2025 travel receipts amounted to 1.73 billion euros, an increase of 4.4% year on year.

“For 2025, the messages continue to be positive and this is documented by the data of INSETE and the Bank of Greece, according to which from the beginning of 2025 until early June, international air arrivals have increased by 7% from 2024,” he said.

However, he warned that “behind the positive assessments, there are complex and compelling challenges already casting their shadow and will affect us further from 2026 onwards, and which we cannot ignore.” Two days after these statements, Israel attacked Iranian targets.