American Airlines Kicks Off First Nonstop Charlotte to Athens Flights

Daily flights now zip between Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Athens International Airport. The new route starts June 5 and marks American Airlines' latest push into European travel from North Carolina. 

"As Charlotte's hometown airline, we take great pride in the breadth of our network, and we are thrilled to break records in 2025 with more nonstop access to Europe than ever before," said Ralph Lopez Massas, American's Senior Vice President of Charlotte operations, to WCNC Charlotte.

At 10 hours and 30 minutes, this flight sets a new distance record from Charlotte. Staff members plan a gate celebration with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the first departure.

The Athens route adds to direct flights already going to Dublin, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Munich, Paris, and Rome. Planes now travel across the Atlantic to eight European cities straight from Charlotte.

Next summer, American will operate four daily U.S. flights to Greece. No other airline matches this number of Greek routes.

Work on the Charlotte-Athens link started last fall. The airline picked this route as a key piece of its growing worldwide network, with plans first shared in September.