Emirates to Launch Daily Year-round Athens – New York Flights

Emirates is expected to successfully fill a gap and undertake an important role in the Greek market. On Monday, the airline announced that it will launch a new daily service from Dubai to Newark Liberty International Airport, via Athens, starting on March 12.

Emirates’ new Dubai-Athens-Newark flight will provide a year-round non-stop daily service between the United States and Greece.

A year-round non-stop daily service between the United States and Greece has not existed since 2012.

‘A strategic choice’

“Within the framework of our excellent cooperation, and in line with our common goal for the growth of tourism between our two countries as well as the expansion to long-haul markets, I would like to thank Emirates for having positively considered our request to launch a new Emirates itinerary connecting Dubai with New York via Athens all year round”, Greek Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura.

Emirates flight EK209 will depart Dubai at 10:50 local time, arriving in Athens at 14:25 before departing again at 16:40 and arriving into Newark at 22:00 on the same day. The return flight EK210 will depart Newark at 23:45 local time, arriving in Athens the next day at 15:05.  EK210 will depart once again from Athens at 17:10 bound for Dubai where it will arrive at 23:50.

“This strategic choice substantially supports our efforts at the Ministry of Tourism to enhance the already increasing flow of visitors to Greece from the United States and the UAE on a yearly basis, travelling either for leisure or business purposes”, Minister kountoura added.

The airline will operate a wide-body Boeing 777-300ER powered by General Electric GE90 engines on the route, offering 8 seats in First, 42 seats in Business and 304 seats in Economy class, as well as 19 tonnes of belly-hold cargo capacity.

‘Commercially and operationally feasible’

Sir Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airline, said that extending one of Emirates’ Dubai-Athens flights to Newark is considered commercially and operationally feasible.

“We are pleased to be able to help meet a strong consumer need long neglected by other airlines, and we would like to thank the authorities and our partners in both the US and Greece for their support of the new route”, Clark said, adding that the company expects tourism to receive a major boost from the availability of daily flights year-round.

According to Athens International Airport studies and surveys, the substantial indirect traffic flows between Athens and US exceed 570,000 passengers annually, while only last summer (2016) the direct passenger volumes to NYC (seasonal services) grew by 52 percent, reaching 156,000 passengers. Thus, the ATH-NYC market size represents a unique opportunity within Europe for year round services development to US.

The United States is also home to the largest overseas Greek community in the world, numbering approximately 1.3 million, and the New York City metropolitan area has the largest community of Greek Americans in the country.

In addition to serving the large Greek-American population in the New York City metropolitan area, the availability of one-stop same-plane service to Dubai will offer a convenient alternative to travellers headed towards the Middle East, West Asia, and Africa.