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Greece’s Tourism Minister, Vassilis Kikilas, has his eyes set on building up Thessaloniki as the Aegean nation’s next hub airport. During a ceremony earlier this week to commemorate five years of direct Emirates flights between Athens and Newark, Kikilas invited the UAE-based carrier to discuss the possibility of adding an additional Dubai to New York route, with a stopover at Makedonia Airport.

A new hub?

Kikalis has noted the northern port city’s potential for establishing an international hub that targets the Balkans region.

Makedonia Airport currently connects to several cities across the Balkans, including Belgrade, Zagreb, and Tirana, though a broader range of flight connections could bring additional traffic.

“Residents of Balkan countries prefer to travel abroad through Thessaloniki,” Kikilas told local media. “Makedonia Airport has been significantly upgraded. Investments in the hotel industry are ongoing. The city’s port is connected to the airport for check-in and for the transportation of travelers’ luggage, while cruise travel, particularly for the port of Thessaloniki, is up by 250 percent this year, which demonstrates the city’s dynamics.”

Pre-pandemic, Thessaloniki was one of Aegean Airlines’ focus cities as it looked to expand outside of Athens, with plans in place to link the airport to six new international destinations and two domestic ones. While travel restrictions may have briefly put those plans on hold, Thessaloniki is set to see a revitalization this summer with an industry recovery in full swing.

Strengthening ties

Emirates has served Greece for 26 years, in that time connecting over 4.5 million passengers on more than 15,000 flights between Athens and Dubai. In 2017, Emirates extended that service to New York, improving international connectivity in Greece.

Kikilas used the event to praise Emirates for its contribution to the country’s tourism sector and the facilitation of trade and transport the Athens-New York route has provided for the economy, emphasizing the strong bilateral ties between Greece and the United Arab Emirates.

“Following a 10-year crisis, Greece has now turned a page and is looking to the future with confidence. Our country is consistently gaining the vote of confidence from international investors, significantly improving its infrastructure, and giving new momentum to the development of the national economy,” he added. “You chose to show faith in the Greek economy at a time when everyone else was reluctant to restart the daily direct Athens-New York connection. The decision paid off.”

Greece is set to see a further boost from the United States in the coming weeks, with Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and American Airlines launching frequent services that will connect Athens with major cities across the United States, including Atlanta, Boston, and Washington D.C.

According to data obtained by Insete, in 2019, around 1.2 million Americans visited Greece, contributing just under €1.2 billion to the country’s economy, the third-highest behind Germany and the United Kingdom.

Delta has moved to strengthen its position in Greece further, announcing earlier this week that it would be entering into a partnership with SKY Express to connect its passengers from Athens to 34 destinations across Greece. Delta will operate 11 weekly services from Athens to New York JFK International Airport, daily to Atlanta, and three times per week to Boston.

Are you heading to Greece this summer? Let us know in the comments.

Sources: GTP, Travel Weekly