Unfortunatly my parents live in a par of greence only served in summer, and only by package holidays, not even U2/FR
Olympic used to fly from ATH until the recent troubles. I think Air Berlin will have an occasional flight this summer, but spare seats on charters offer a direct flight. It's just a shame that a gold card doesn't buy you lounge access now, a double poke in the eye from BA, who don't run any (international) flights from Manchester at all.
The alternative is a 7 hour drive from Athens or Thesoloniki, having done MAN-LHR-ATH or MAN-LGW-SKG