I am planning a last-minute trip to Greece and have not been able to find round trip flights in early october 2007 from Athens - Santorini. I tried both Aegean and Olympic airlines.
Any advice? Thanks


Including your travel dates would be helpful, but in general if the airlines' websites aren't showing any flights on your travel dates your only other option is a ferry. It's possible you'll have a choice between a conventional car ferry and a highspeed ferry. The conventional ferry takes about 8 hours and the highspeed ferry takes about 5 hours. Check with www.gtp.gr to see what's available. Use "Piraeus" as your "From" port.
Another option would be to see if there are any Olympic flights available to Naxos, which is only 2 hours away from Santorini by ferry. Make your way from the Naxos airport to the ferry port and take the next ferry going to Santorini.

Keep checking the websites right up to your departure date. Try booking one-way flights, as there is no price advantage for round trip tickets. If that doesn't work, stop at the Aegean and Olympic ticket counters when you arrive at Athens Airport - there could be a seat available from a last minute cancellation.
I don't think a flight to Naxos would do much good, as there is only one flight per day (Olympic), and it arrives after the Blue Star departs Naxos for Santorini. There are some ferries departing Naxos for Santorini later in the afternoon, but not every day.

choose another island... or as Thrym suggests, last minute at the airport. I suspect only the weekend is booked out, and it seems strange, perhaps there is a conference or seminar of some type planned.

Even if you can find a flight, by the time you hang around the airport etc, there won't be much time difference between the fast ferry (4.5 hours) and flying.

Posters 4 & 5 are correct assuming you can catch the 0720 highspeed from Piraeus. There are some afternoon departures as well, but from October most of them are conventional ferries that arrive on Santorini early AM the next day. In most cases a flight will get you to Santorini far quicker than a ferry.
Olympic and Aegean airlines each offer about three flights per day, early morning, mid-day, and evening, taking about 50 minutes to reach Santorini. Good luck on finding a seat.

#6, OP doesn't stipulate what the preferred time of departure is. In early October, the high speed ferry does still run, but not every day. The flight is of course faster, but not by very much if you include the compulsory dead time add-ons of flying - and the ferry is cheaper. At this late stage, it could well be impossible to get tickets at all.

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<hr>At this late stage, it could well be impossible to get tickets at all. <hr></blockquote>Yes, that was the whole point of houseparty's post. Whether a flight or ferry is more convenient depends on many factors, including day and time of arrival in Athens, whether the OP is hoping to fly to Santorini directly upon arrival at Athens Airport or after a day or two in Athens, etc, etc. Without knowing day and time of arrival it is impossible to say which is best.
If houseparty arrives in Athens early enough to take the 0720 highspeed (on one of the days it is sailing), then, I agree, it may be nearly as fast as a flight. There is also the Blue Star Paros, which sails daily and arrives on Santorini at 1500. If, on the other hand, the OP is too late for the early morning ferries, then it would mean taking one of the late afternoon conventional ferries or waiting until the next day for the highspeed (assuming it sails the next day).