Reaching Athens will be even easier if you live or work in Birmingham, as Aegean Airlines has announced a new direct air connection between the UK city and the Greek capital, starting in early June.

As part of ongoing route expansion, the Greek airline will operate the scheduled route twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays, starting on June 10th and September 13th and from September 20th to October 25th, Aegean will operate one weekly Saturday flight.

The air link with Birmingham is part of the airline’s growth strategy and ongoing route expansion programme, which has seen increased connections between the UK and Greece, including direct flights to Athens from London Heathrow and Manchester, the latter being introduced last year.

In line with the 2014 schedule, Aegean flies to and from Manchester and Athens twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

To cover increased demand between May 29th and September 11th, a third weekly flight will operate, on Thursdays.

Aegean operates three direct flights a day to and from Heathrow and Athens year-round.

Aegean, Greece’s largest airline, acquired the former state carrier Olympic Air last October, which has enabled the company to significantly increase its connections and flight frequency. 

With a total of 13 million seats available in 2014, the airline offers flights from eight Greek Aegean bases to 205 destinations in 32 countries, 17 of which are being launched this year, and 51 domestic destinations.

Aegean’s domestic route network has greatly improved accessibility to Greece’s islands, including some of the more remote, both for visitors and Greeks alike.