In an email to friends of the Consulate General of Greece in Boston, Stratos Efthymiou, Greece’s top diplomat in New England, outlined the community-wide campaign to begin new, transatlantic service between the city of Athens and Boston, known as “the Athens of America.”
Delta Airlines announced the new service that will begin on May 27, 2022, adding yet another city in North America with a non-stop flight to Greece.
Currently, Delta operates flights from Atlanta and New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. United operates non-stop service from Newark Liberty International and Washington Dulles.
Emirates also operates non-stop between Newark and Athens and Dallas-Ft. Worth-based American Airlines operates flights to the Greek capital from Chicago and John F. Kennedy.
Efthymiou called the new service “the realization of a dream for the Greek American community of New England,” adding that it was accomplished thanks to a concerted group effort led by the Consulate General of Greece in Boston.
According to Efthymiou’s email, private citizens with business and marketing expertise put together a case for the route, followed by extensive marketing surveys and statistical analysis.
“The two original members of the Consulate General’s task force, Marina Hatsopoulos, who helped us put together a very thorough business case, and Nick Mitropoulos — both of them spared no efforts to help out cause. Katerina Makatouni from Kids Love Greece carried out a terrific marketing survey and statistical analysis and Stephanie Orphanos from Deeper Greece brought together all of the industry’s agencies,” Efthymiou said.
He also acknowledged the former CEO of Massport, Tom Glynn, and the current one, Lisa Wieland, as well as executives of Boston Airport, Matthew Hatfield and Mark Raker, who made their cause their own. On the other side of the Atlantic, Ioanna Papadopoulou and Leonidas Raftopoulos from Eleftherios Venizelos Airport provided support, corporate incentives and statistical data.
This effort was unequivocally supported by former Governor Michael Dukakis, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito and Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Methodios in Boston, who extended his support and helped distribute marketing surveys in the community.
Efthymiou also said that he owed a special mention to Worcester County Sheriff and president of Massport, Lew Evangelidis, who has ceaselessly supported the project.
Friends from the airline industry also advised the committee at all times, including Giorgos Zacharia, president at Kayak, George Antoniadis, CEO of PlaneSense, Sergios Diplarakos from Aegean Airlines and Amedeo Odoni, professor emeritus of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Since the beginning, the Greek government, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Greece in Washington D.C. also wholeheartedly supported this project.
Efthymiou cited, in particular, the support of Alternate Foreign Minister Kostas Fragogiannis, who championed the cause non-stop both during his visit to Boston as well as from Athens.
Former Minister of Tourism Harry Theoharis played a catalytic role. He came to Boston specifically to express the Greek government’s support and interest at the highest level to all relevant authorities, Delta Air Lines and other interested parties.
Efthymiou then went on to discuss the challenges faced by the committee.
The project went through many trials and tribulations. Initial mistrust was overcome when we searched for and presented robust statistical data which showed that a seasonal flight would be commercially viable. Then came the 337 Max crisis, which negatively affected key airlines, and was followed by the collapse of many transatlantic flights. The pandemic grounded all planes and we thought it would lead to the project’s demise.
The crisis, however, highlighted the importance of point-to-point flights and Greece’s excellent performance over the summer, particularly with travelers from the USA, reinvigorated our efforts. Last April, two weeks after Minister Theoharis’ visit to the Delta headquarters, we contacted the company highlighting the New England Greek American community’s needs and the solid case of our project. After a very successful year for Greek tourism, I am glad that Delta Airlines saw in the Boston-Athens route a business opportunity. I congratulate them and wish them good luck.
The Boston-Athens route, if it takes hold and gets extended to year-round in the long run (which is feasible when taking into account the traffic generated around holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring break, the Boston Marathon and Orthodox Easter, to name a few) will open new roads for academics, entrepreneurs and educators, roads of innovation and culture that will bring the distinguished community of New England and Greece closer, fostering scientific collaborations, exchanges and business exchanges.
The direct flight will ease access for high-income and highly educated tourism to Greece for at least three summer months, facilitating study abroad programs that will bring hundreds of students.
But, most importantly, it will reunite families and bring together scores of ordinary people of the Greek diaspora and expatriates who can neither afford to travel in business class nor have an abundance of vacation days available that would allow them to travel to the homeland.
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