Athens International Airport

Greece reopened to more international flights on Monday as the tourist season formally got under way, with the aim to strike what government spokesman Stelios Petsas described as a delicate balance between an "authentic" travel experience and the safety of visitors.

Positive signs are coming from potential residential property buyers - both Greeks and foreigners - even though the vast majority of interested parties are only seeing what's on offer on the market without deciding on the acquisition of a property.

Lufthansa has announced it is increasing flights between Germany and Greece from June 15, doubling the number of services it provides from Athens to Munich and Frankfurt.

France's national carrier will be resuming flights between Paris and Athens as travel restrictions are gradually lifted across the European Union, it was reported on Thursday.

Athens International Airport data for April resemble the figures of small regional airports before the coronavirus outbreak, as the number of passengers through the country's main gateway last month was only marginally higher than on Zakynthos in April 2019.

The two companies that manage Greece's main airports face a threat to their continued operations due to the absence of any passenger traffic.

The aviation market is experiencing one of the biggest crises in its history, with the effects stretching from carriers' revenues to the jobs at all the companies in or related to the industry.

January posted an increase in air passengers amounting to 5.4 percent from the same month in 2019, reaching a total of 2.25 million for all the country's airports, according to official figures by the Civil Aviation Authority.
This means that in the first month of the year there were 114,844 more passengers than a year earlier.

As the Greek government steps up preparations for the possible arrival in the country of a new coronavirus called 2019-nCoV, health workers are using infrared thermometers at Athens International Airport to check the temperature of travelers from China and other destinations, as fever is a sign of infection.

Health workers are using infrared thermometers at Athens' International Airport to check the temperature of tourists arriving with direct flights from China for possible coronavirus infections.

Authorities are also distributing leaflets with all the necessary information on Greek health services in Chinese and have posted posters in arrivals and departures at the airport.