American airline companies will start direct flights to Greece earlier than in any other year, Greek Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias communicated on Monday.
Following a meeting with US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt at the ministry in Athens, Kikilias said that American airline companies this summer will operate 14 direct flights every week between eight large US airports and Athens International Airport (AIA).
According to the Kikilias, direct flights from the US to Athens will start from March 7th.
Greece recently scrapped the compulsory Covid-19 testing before travelling to Greece for fully vaccinated travellers arriving from the United States, Australia and the UK.
During his meeting with Ambassador Pyatt, Kikilias said he expects Greece to attract more Americans this year after the Greek authorities scrapped the rule.
The Greek tourism minister also said that bookings from the US to Greece this year were up compared to the same period in 2019.
He also informed that the ministry is analysing ways to attract more tourist flows from America to Greece.
According to Bank of Greece data, the number of travellers from the US to Greece during January-November 2021 rose by 266 per cent (to 382,000) year-on-year and their spending was up by 603.4 per cent to 598 million euros.
In 2019, Greece saw over 1.1 million passengers travel from the US.