Chania Airport. Photo: Amit Cotler Greek tourism continues to shine, with the country showing a growth trend in the number of international flight arrivals, albeit more moderate in some destinations.
According to INSETE, the research arm of the Greek Tourism Association SETE, during the first eight months of 2026, Greece recorded approximately 20.6 million international flight arrivals, an increase of 3.4% compared to the corresponding period in 2025, which were approximately 670 thousand arrivals.
Growth continued even during the peak summer season. In August, there were approximately 4.9 million international flight arrivals, up 2.7% from August 2025, while in July, there were approximately 5 million arrivals, up 3.2%.
The positive trend was recorded mainly in the islands. Crete with 4.4 million arrivals and an increase of 6.4%, while the Ionian Islands region recorded 3.2 million arrivals, also an increase of 6.4%. The Dodecanese reached 3.4 million arrivals, an increase of 2.5%, and the Cyclades reached 981 thousand, an increase of 4.4%.
In Athens, the opposite trend was recorded. Athens International Airport recorded 5.9 million arrivals of foreign residents in January-August, down 1.4% from last year. In August alone, traffic amounted to about 1 million arrivals, a decrease of 4.2%. The figure refers to arrivals of foreign residents and therefore does not match the airport's total international passenger traffic data.
Among the airports, Chania stood out with a 9.9% increase to 1.3 million arrivals, Corfu with 7.5% to 1.7 million, Thessaloniki with 6% to 2 million and Heraklion with 5% to 3.1 million.
Mykonos also recorded a 9.1% increase, to 476,000 arrivals. On the other hand, Santorini saw almost no change, with 506,000 arrivals and a tiny increase of 0.3%.