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Island-hopping in Greece this summer just got a little easier.\u00a0Hoper<\/a>, the first helicopter airline in Greece offering scheduled flights, is now selling tickets\u00a0to 11 destinations, including harder-to-reach\u00a0spots like Antiparos, Folegandros, Ios, Kea, Patmos, Sifnos and\u00a0Spetses. All connect to either Athens, Santorini, or Mykonos, which serve as the carrier\u2019s\u00a0hubs.<\/p>\n Fares start at\u00a0\u20ac160 ($172) per one-way ticket, but they will often climb higher due to demand. On the airline\u2019s website, such a flight in August from Athens to the beautifully rugged island of\u00a0Tinos currently costs \u20ac380\u00a0for a 42-minute helicopter journey.\u00a0A ferry journey from Athens on the same date can take\u00a0about four\u00a0hours\u00a0and cost\u00a0\u20ac35.<\/p>\n With few islands benefiting from international airport access, ferries are practically a requisite for exploring\u00a0the country\u2019s most scenic summer spots; most passengers embark\u00a0via Athens\u2019 main port, Piraeus.\u00a0The main benefit to this alternative is the reduced transit time\u2014the fastest ferry to\u00a0Santorini from Athens takes more than four hours, versus one hour by chopper\u2014nixing those days of a vacation itinerary that are spent solely on getting\u00a0from one point to another.<\/p>\n \u201cWe turn hours into minutes,\u201d Demitris\u00a0Memos, chief executive officer of Hoper, said in a press release. \u201cTravelers earn up to a full day of vacation.\u201d<\/p>\n Some luxury hotels such as the newly opened\u00a0One&Only K\u00e9a\u00a0Island<\/a>\u00a0do offer helicopter transfers for their guests at an additional cost,\u00a0and time-strapped travelers have always had the option of booking helicopters via private charters. Hoper\u2019s flights, by contrast, are scheduled\u2014not operated on demand\u2014so they\u2019re far less expensive.\u00a0A private charter from Athens to Mykonos\u00a0can run \u20ac2,775 for\u00a0a single seat in high season. For a family of four flying with Hoper, it\u2019s roughly\u00a0<\/strong>\u20ac1,490\u00a0at similarly peak-demand times\u2014a much better value.<\/p>\n The country\u2019s tourism minister, Olga Kefalogianni, describes\u00a0the\u00a0service as a \u201cunique step\u201d for Greek tourism. But a ferry might still be a more convenient option on some occasions. Hoper is going to Mykonos from Athens\u00a0only three times a week in August, for example, and there are generally four daily ferries in high season from Athens.<\/p>\n Hoper\u2019s flights depart from Koropi, a 10-minute drive from Athens International Airport, which is more conveniently situated than the farther ferry port, some\u00a050 minutes from the airport. The fleet consists of five Robinson R44 and R66 helicopters, each with three or four passenger seats and cockpits with panoramic windows to take in the blue waters of the Mediterranean below.<\/p>\n The helicopter airline service to the islands\u00a0comes as Greece is experiencing a huge boom in tourism. 2023 was a record-setting year, according to Greek officials, with nearly 33 million visitors. This year could beat that record. Tourism accounts for 18% of the nation\u2019s gross domestic product.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nSubscribe to the Fortune Next to Lead newsletter to get weekly strategies on how to make it to the corner office. Sign up for free<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n