First ever direct route from Athens to Dallas operated by American Airlines

What a week for Athens International Airport !!, first attending Routes Europe at Rimini Italy, participating in over 50 very productive meetings with airlines and named the Winner in the Over 20 million passengers category for the Routes Europe Awards, a repeat of Athens success from Routes World 2025, recognizing the collaboration and highlight best practice within the route development community. Then, on the 22nd of May the inauguration of the very first direct connection to Dallas-Fort Worth with American Airlines.

American Airlines is a true “success story” for Athens and this story should be told:

• It started in May 2007, as US Airways at the time, operated for the first time to Athens, connecting it to Philadelphia.
• Since 2016, the route changed from US Airways to American Airlines.
• In 2019, the airline added Chicago from Athens, offering the first ever direct connection to this US iconic metropolis.
• Post-Pandemic, in 2021, American Airlines added New York (JFK) from Athens, complementing its services to Philadelphia and Chicago.
• In 2025, the airline added one more US direct route, connecting Athens to Charlotte.
• From 2007 to 2025, American Airlines carried 2million passengers between the US and Athens on direct services. 2025 was the record year in passenger traffic for the airline at Athens, achieving an impressive growth of 28% to 2024.

Now, in 2026, American Airlines added Dallas from Athens, offering the largest network of direct routes to the US, with a total of 5 destinations and 35 weekly departures. With this new route, American Airlines will increase seat capacity in the Athens market by 30% compared to the summer 2025 season. The route to DFW is operating daily, using B773 & B772 equipment. Dallas (DFW) serves as American Airlines’ largest global hub, offering more than 930 daily departures to over 230 destinations across 30 countries, significantly expanding onward connectivity from Athens to the United States, Mexico and Latin America.

During the inaugural event, Sophia Philis Ortiz, VP- Phoenix Operations at American Airlines said “We’re excited to continue strengthening our presence in Greece with the launch of our new Athens–Dallas Fort Worth service. This new route complements our existing operation in Athens and expands connectivity to our largest hub. As a first‑generation American with deep family ties to Greece, I’m especially proud to represent American Airlines at today’s inaugural”.

Athens International Airport’s Director, Communications & Marketing, Ioanna Papadopoulou said “The launch of the new connection between Athens and Dallas-Fort Worth, is a highly significant and exciting development, further enhancing the Athens’ connectivity with the United States of America. Along with the successful seasonal services from/to Charlotte, New York/JFK, Chicago and Philadelphia, the new connection with Dallas provides even more options for the traveling public with the American Airlines' excellent product. The U.S. market keeps recording an impressive growth in Athens, consistently ranking at the top position among our most important and popular markets. We would like to extend our best wishes to our airline partner for a highly successful season ahead and reaffirm our unwavering commitment to continue working closely together for the support and further development of the airline in the Athens market”.

The Secretary General of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO), Andreas Fiorentinos, underlined the strategic importance of the American market for Greek tourism, highlighting the US market’s potential for further development and the US travelers’  high-spending power.

“The statistics show that there’s so much more potential for growth,” Fiorentinos said.

In 2025, the total O&D market between USA and Athens (based on IATA AirportIS data) reached a record of 2 million round-trip passengers, with a strong growth of 12% to 2024.

This strong momentum continues in 2026, with O&D traffic between US and Athens increasing further by 10%, during the first 4 months of the year. In Summer 2026, Athens will offer 103 weekly departures to the US, almost 15 daily departures, connecting Athens to 9 US destinations (JFK, EWR, ORD, PHL, ATL, BOS, IAD, CLT & DFW) with services offered by 5 airlines (AA, DL, EK, N0, UA).

Despite Athens strong network to the US, still 61% of the O&D traffic (IATA AirportIS-2025) travelled Indirectly to the capital of Greece, underlining strong developmental opportunities in the US market for Athens.

Athens International Airport is fully committed to strengthen even more this close partnership and to substantially support the developmental plans of American Airlines to and from Athens!

Warm wishes for safe and full flights and many happy landings to Athens!