ATHENS – Delta Air Lines is adding five more weekly flights between Athens International Airport and New York John F. Kennedy International Airport effective June 2, 2015. The U.S. airline re-started its summer seasonal service on March 30 with a daily operation but is increasing frequency due to high demand during the peak travel months.
Overall, Delta’s 12 weekly flights will offer more than 83,000 seats between Greece and the United States during the peak travel period. Last year 87,800 people travelled between the Big Apple on its nonstop service from Athens – a 16.6 percent rise over 2013.
“With customer service a key pillar at Delta, we aim to respond to the needs of our passengers, and offering increased frequencies from Athens this year does just that by enabling more people to travel between Greece and the United States this summer,” said Perry Cantarutti, Delta’s Senior Vice President, Europe, Middle East and Africa. “We have had a presence in Greece for 30 years through our relationship with Pan Am and, like all the communities we serve, remain committed to this country for the long term.”
Ahead of the new flights, Delta’s airport team in Athens hosted a fundraising event this weekend as part of the airline’s annual Day of Hope celebrations, which raises funds for the American Cancer Society. More than 100 airports have taken part in this year’s fundraising including Rome, Tokyo Narita, London, Boston and Madrid. Events have also been organised at Delta’s Atlanta headquarters throughout the month. The global goal is to raise $1.5 million. Last year, Delta staff and customers donated $1.3 million.
Delta’s additional Athens-New York-JFK flight schedule is as follows:
| Flight number | Departure | Arrival |
| DL45 | Athens at 2:20 p.m. (Monday/ Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/ Saturday) – starting June 2 | New York-JFK at 6:10 p.m. |
| DL44 | New York-JFK at 7:30 p.m. (Monday/Tuesday/ Wednesday/Friday/Sunday) starting June 1 | Athens at 12:35 p.m. (next day) |
Delta’s existing Athens – New York service is as follows:
| Flight number | Departure | Arrival |
| DL41 | Athens at 12:00 noon (daily) | New York-JFK at 3:45 p.m. |
| DL40 | New York-JFK at 4:30 p.m. (daily) | Athens at 9:30 a.m. (next day) |
Delta’s Athens services are operated using Airbus A330-300 and Boeing 767-300 aircraft, featuring fully flat-bed seats with direct aisle access in a 1x2x1 configuration in the business class cabin Delta One. Customers flying in Delta Comfort+, Delta’s premium economy service, benefit from up to four additional inches of legroom and 50 percent more recline than Delta’s standard international Main Cabin seats, as well as priority boarding. Other product initiatives being rolled out across Delta’s international fleet include the expansion of Wi-Fi service.
Delta is significantly improving the customer experience at Terminal 4 and Terminal 2 at New York-JFK.
