Qantas is considering seasonal Perth Athens flights after Athens International Airport named Australia one of its largest unserved aviation markets, Executive Traveller reported on Tuesday.

No airline currently flies non-stop between Australia and Greece. Travellers change planes at a hub in Asia or the Middle East.

Overall, the gap matters for the Greek diaspora. Melbourne is home to one of the largest Greek populations of any city outside Greece, Executive Traveller reported.

Ioanna Papadopoulou leads communications and marketing at the airport. She told Routes that Australia remains a strategic objective, supported by traffic flows and the diaspora.

Greek City Times reported that assessment in early November, and the airport pointed to growth in its US services.

However, Qantas is the most likely candidate for a direct link, Executive Traveller reported.

Qantas Group chief executive Vanessa Hudson first singled out Greece in July 2024. She raised it as a possible seasonal destination from Perth at the launch of Perth-Paris flights.

“Every person I speak to at the moment is going to Greece,” Hudson told Executive Traveller at the launch. But she said the idea depended on the airline having the aircraft.

She returned to the plan in June 2026. Hudson named seasonal Perth Athens flights among routes that could open as more long-range jets arrive. “None of these are locked in yet,” Hudson said.

In particular, Perth is a practical starting point for Perth Athens flights, sitting about 12,300 kilometres from Athens. By comparison, it is roughly 2,200 kilometres shorter than Qantas’s Perth-London service.

The Boeing 787-9 can operate Perth Athens flights on that shorter sector. A seasonal service would most likely run in the northern summer, as Australian demand for mainland Greece and the islands peaks.

Qantas also operates Perth-Rome flights from May to October on that basis. A Perth Athens flights service could follow the same seasonal pattern.

Additionally, new 787-9 deliveries are opening other seasonal routes. The airline will launch its first non-stop Sydney-Cape Town flights in October 2027, three times a week through to March 2028.

Cam Wallace, the Qantas International chief executive, said the new 787s give the airline flexibility to grow its international network in places customers want to travel.

Airbus A350-1000ULR jets could free 787s for new routes as well. Qantas has earmarked the first six A350s for Project Sunrise flights from Sydney to London and New York across 2027 and 2028, as Greek City Times has reported.

Later, the next six aircraft, arriving through to late 2029, will fly across the wider network. Perth-London, which the 787 now operates, is a prime candidate for the A350. The freed 787s could support Perth Athens flights if demand holds.

“That’ll then free up the 787s, enabling us to expand the network more broadly,” Hudson said. Qantas Group chief financial officer Rob Marcolina said the airline can redeploy the 787-9 into another market.

At the same time, Athens airport is busier than ever. August 2026 was its first month above four million passengers, with a record 4.03 million, according to Executive Traveller.

The first eight months of 2026 delivered 23.71 million passengers, up 4.4 per cent on 2025. Annual traffic has already passed 34 million. As a result, the airport is pressing ahead with a multibillion-euro expansion to lift capacity beyond 40 million a year.

Until a Perth Athens flights route is confirmed, travellers will still make the journey in two flights.

Source: Executive Traveller