Transatlantic route · frequency, carriers and airport records
ATH→PHL
Athens to Philadelphia
- Flights
- 466 both ways
- Carriers
- 1
- Distance
- 5,023 mi
- Period
- July 2025 to June 2026
No public record scores Athens to Philadelphia International flight by flight. The US Department of Transportation's on-time database covers domestic flights only, and in Europe only the United Kingdom publishes punctuality by route, so what follows is built from the three measurements that do exist. The DOT's international report counts 466 flights between the two airports in the twelve months to June 2026, about four departures a week in each direction, flown by American. EUROCONTROL's year-to-date figure has 63.9% of all departures from Athens leaving within 15 minutes of schedule and 66.5% of arrivals landing within 15 minutes. At the other end, 75.2% of PHL's domestic departures arrived on time in the DOT data, which says something about how the airport itself runs, not about this route.
On EUROCONTROL's year-to-date arrival punctuality, Athens ranks 40th of the 41 European airports on this site with service to the United States. Bilbao leads that table at 84.3% and Manchester closes it at 65.7%. A long-haul departure inherits the airport's morning: an aircraft that arrived late from its previous sector, or a departure queue built up by weather, delays the transatlantic wave with everything else.
Key figures
Flights
466
Both directions, July 2025 to June 2026 (DOT)
Carriers
1
American Airlines
ATH departures on time
63.9%
All destinations, year to date (EUROCONTROL)
PHL domestic on time
75.2%
US DOT, last twelve months of domestic departures
Without a route-level record, the useful question is what the two airports do to a schedule. EUROCONTROL attributes 4.1 minutes of air traffic flow management delay per arriving flight to Athens so far this year; that is delay imposed by the network to hold traffic on the ground elsewhere, not the airline's own. In the DOT data, a delayed domestic departure from PHL ran a little over an hour late on average over the last twelve months, and 3.09% of its scheduled flights were cancelled.
Carrier by carrier
Who flies ATH to PHL
American Airlines is the only carrier the DOT report shows on ATH to PHL, with 466 flights and an average of 210 passengers aboard each. A single-carrier route gives a delayed passenger no same-day alternative on the same ticket, which is worth knowing before booking a tight onward connection.
| Airline | Flights | Share | Per month | Passengers / flight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 466 | 100% | 39 | 210 |
DOT international report, July 2025 to June 2026; flights in both directions together. No delay figures exist for this pair in any public source.
Across the year
How often ATH to PHL flies through the year
The DOT's international report puts 62 flights on the pair in July 2025, the busiest month of the window, and 0 in February 2026, the thinnest. A summer-to-winter swing of that size means the winter schedule is a different operation: fewer frequencies, so a cancellation leaves a longer wait for the next seat.
Flights per month, both directions
- July 202562
- August 202562
- September 202559
- October 202562
- November 202535
- December 20250
- January 20260
- February 20260
- March 20265
- April 202659
- May 202662
- June 202660
The DOT's international report counts flights in both directions together: 466 between ATH and PHL from July 2025 to June 2026, about four departures a week in each direction, carrying 98,030 passengers. That makes it the 5th busiest of 9 US routes from Athens and the 10th busiest of 17 European routes into PHL.
The departure airport
How Athens is running
EUROCONTROL's figures for Athens as a whole, every airline and every destination: 63.9% of departures and 66.5% of arrivals within 15 minutes of schedule from 1 January to 21 October 2026, with 94.5% of scheduled flights operated. The last seven days ran at 70.0% for departures, 6 points better than the year so far. Air traffic flow management delay attributed to the airport averaged 4.1 minutes per arriving flight this year, 4.3 over the last week.
| Window | Departures on time | Arrivals on time | Schedules operated | ATFM delay / arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yesterday (21 October 2026) | 77.2% | 76.8% | 89.1% | 3.4 min |
| Last 7 days | 70.0% | 70.0% | 93.1% | 4.3 min |
| Year to date | 63.9% | 66.5% | 94.5% | 4.1 min |
The arrival airport
Landing at Philadelphia International
Philadelphia International is scored on this site from the DOT's domestic data: 75.2% of its 101,709 domestic departures arrived on time over the last twelve months, with delayed flights running a little over an hour late, and 3.09% were cancelled. Those are domestic flights, not this route, but an arriving transatlantic flight shares the same runways, the same weather and the same ground delay programmes, so a bad day at PHL reaches a flight from ATH just as surely. The airport's own page has the hour-by-hour and month-by-month detail, and its live FAA status appears above when the FAA has something to say.
Domestic on time
75.2%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late (DOT)
Avg delay
82 min
Delayed domestic flights only
Cancelled
3.09%
Domestic departures
101,709
Last twelve months
Philadelphia International (PHL) delay statistics, hour by hour and month by month
Your rights
EC 261/2004 on ATH to PHL
Every flight that departs Athens falls under Regulation (EC) 261/2004, whichever airline flies it and wherever it lands. If it arrives at Philadelphia International three hours or more late, or is cancelled with under 14 days' notice, and the cause was within the airline's control, each passenger is owed €600 (€300 if the airline got you there under four hours late), on top of rebooking and care. Weather, air traffic control restrictions and strikes outside the airline are the usual exemptions. The return flight from PHL is covered only when the carrier is EU based. The sector is about 5,023 miles, 8,082 km, which puts it in the top distance band.
Delayed three hours or more? Check a claim with Compensair →
What to do with this
Booking ATH to PHL
There is no grade to give ATH to PHL without a route record, and this site does not invent one. What the three sources support: about four departures a week in each direction, a single carrier, a departure airport that gets 64% of its departures away on time and an arrival airport that runs 75% on time domestically. Leave two hours for any onward connection at PHL; immigration comes before the connecting flight.
Common questions
ATH to PHL questions
How often are ATH to PHL flights delayed?
No public dataset records delays for this route flight by flight: the US on-time database is domestic only and only the UK publishes route-level punctuality in Europe. The nearest measurements are the departure airport's EUROCONTROL punctuality (63.9% of departures within 15 minutes this year) and PHL's domestic record in the DOT data (75.2% on time).
Which airlines fly ATH to PHL?
American Airlines. American Airlines accounted for 100% of the 466 flights the DOT counted on the pair.
Can I claim compensation for a delayed ATH to PHL flight?
Yes, if the flight arrived three hours or more late or was cancelled at short notice for a reason within the airline's control: departures from Athens are covered by EC 261/2004 whichever airline operates them. The fixed amount for a sector of this length is €600 a passenger, €300 if the airline got you there under four hours late. The return from PHL is covered only on an EU carrier.
How many flights a day are there from ATH to PHL?
About four departures a week in each direction: the DOT counted 466 flights in both directions over twelve months, peaking at 62 in July 2025 and falling to 0 in February 2026.
Related
Where to go next
- Athens (ATH): every US route
- Philadelphia International (PHL) delay statistics
- ATH to JFK, New York (JFK)1,443 flights
- ATH to EWR, Newark (EWR)1,218 flights
- ATH to ORD, Chicago (ORD)668 flights
- ATH to ATL, Atlanta (ATL)644 flights
- LHR to PHL, from London1,866 flights
- DUB to PHL, from Dublin1,316 flights
- FCO to PHL, from Rome752 flights
- MAD to PHL, from Madrid722 flights
- Every Europe-to-US route and airport
Greece publishes no route-level punctuality, so this page cannot grade the route. The UK pages in this section can, because the CAA does.
Sources: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, International Report (flights and passengers by carrier and airport pair), July 2025 to June 2026; EUROCONTROL Aviation Intelligence Portal, airport punctuality and ATFM delay to 21 October 2026. Rebuilt 22 October 2026; the EUROCONTROL figures refresh with each weekly build, the others when their publisher releases a month. How these sources differ.