Athens International Airport

Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos (IATA: ATH, ICAO: LGAV), commonly initialised as AIA, is the largest international airport in Greece, serving the city of Athens and region of Attica. It began operation on 28 March 2001 (in time for the 2004 Summer Olympics) and is the main base of Aegean Airlines, as well as other smaller Greek airlines. It replaced the old Ellinikon International Airport.
Athens International Airport is currently a member of Group 1 of Airports Council International (over 25 million passengers). As of 2023, it is the 18th-busiest airport in Europe and the busiest and largest in the Balkans.
The new Athens Int'l Airport covers a huge expanse of 16,000 acres (25.0 sq mi; 64.7 km2), making the facility among the largest in Europe and in the world in terms of land area.
== History ==
=== Development and ownership ===
AIA is located between the towns of Markopoulo, Koropi, Spata and Loutsa, about 20 km (12 mi) to the east of central Athens (30 km (19 mi) by road, due to intervening hills). The airport is named after Elefthérios Venizélos, the prominent Cretan political figure and Prime Minister of Greece, who made a significant contribution to the development of Greek aviation and the Hellenic Air Force in the 1930s.[citation needed] As to-date, the airport is operated by AIA S.A. and ownership is divided between the Hellenic Republic (Greek State) and Private Sector in a 55%-45% stake following a PPP scheme for the airport company. Currently, private investors include the Copelouzos Group (5%) and PSP Investments of Canada (40%), following purchase of Hochtief's shares.
The airport was constructed to replace the now-closed Athens (Ellinikon) International Airport, as the latter had reached its saturation point with no physical space for further growth. Studies for a new airport had been carried out from as early as the 1970s, with as many as 19 different locations being looked at before an area close to the town of Spata was chosen as suitable. Athens Airport SA, a state-owned company, was established in 1978 to proceed with the plans. However, after delays and slow development, the project was revived in 1991, approximately 1 year after the city lost the right to host the 1996 Summer Olympics to Atlanta, USA and the possibility of submitting a bid for the 2000 Game was discussed. However, the city presented the project that was eventually the winner for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, with the then government launching an international tender for the selection of a build-own-operate-transfer partner for the airport project, with Hochtief of Germany being selected.
In 1996, Athens International Airport S.A. (AIA) was established as a Public–private partnership with a 30-year concession agreement. That same year, the €2.1 billion development finally began with an estimated completion date of February 2001. The airport construction was completed five months before schedule, but was delayed opening a month due to surface connections to Attiki Odos not being completed. The airport officially opened on 28 March 2001 Its major features include two parallel runways being 4 km (2.5 mi) and 3.8 km (2.4 mi) long respectively. The airport has received approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration for take-offs and landings of the biggest passenger jet worldwide, the A380. The first ever A380 to visit 'Eleftherios Venizelos' Athens International Airport made an emergency landing on 13 April 2011 for emergency medical reasons. The first scheduled A380 flight took place on 26 October 2012 by Emirates.
=== Greek government debt-crisis impact (2009–2013) ===
The Greek government-debt crisis reduced the overall passenger traffic of the airport for six consecutive years. Many long-haul airlines outright terminated service to the airport, while others chose to operate on a seasonal basis only, opting to terminate service during the winter months. Moreover, these problems were further exacerbated by the closure of Olympic Airlines, which operated many long-haul flights to and from the airport. In 2013, the airport handled just above 12.5 million passengers, 3.2% fewer than in 2012 and lower by approximately 25% when compared to 2007's traffic, which was the all-time-high at that time.
=== Recovery and new levels of passenger traffic (2014–2015) ===
2014 signaled a strong recovery for the airport's passenger traffic and all statistical figures. More than ten new airlines started new flights to and from Athens. Aegean Airlines strengthened its network by 30% (with many more destinations scheduled for 2015) while Ryanair established a new base in the Athens Airport and added eight destinations. The airport company recorded an increase in passenger traffic in excess of 21% during 2014, reaching 15.1 million passengers, resulted both by new destinations but also by increased capacity offered on established ones. Characteristically, Singapore and Gulf Air resumed flights while Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways fly more frequently to/from Athens. Delta Air Line resumed their weekly flights and American Airlines retained their seasonal schedules to/from USA with even more frequent connectivity. From 2017 onwards, year-round services to Singapore are going to resume after more than five years. Flights are going to be operated by Scoot.
According to AIA published statistics, total traffic for 2015 achieved an impressive performance reaching almost 18.1 million passengers, an all-time-record for the airport at that time, increased by 19% on year-over-year basis and by 1.55 million (+9.4%) the previous best, which was the pre-crisis year 2007. In addition, over the same period, aircraft traffic exhibited a solid growth of 14% year-over-year. Moreover, in 2015 a significant rise (+38%) was recorded by transfer passengers, with the international to international transfer traffic marking an impressive increase (+60%) demonstrating the significant enhancement of the Athens airport connectivity.
=== Exceeding twenty million passengers (2016–2023) and beyond ===
2016 was a landmark year for the Athens International Airport, both for domestic and international destinations. Annual results reflected a solid performance for a third year in a row fueled by double-digit growth, this time passing the twenty million mark, increased by 10.7% on year-over-year basis. Healthy growth continued in 2017 with the airport showing traffic increase of 8.6% to a total of 21.7 million passengers, yet another all-time record for the Athens airport. During 2018, the airport achieved yet another record high, reporting increased passenger traffic by 11% to more than 24.1 million passengers. Equally, aircraft traffic achieved a new record with a reported annual growth of 10.8% to 217,094 movements.
For the first ten months of 2023, the airport traffic shows signs of further increase with passenger numbers up by 19.5% to 24.4 million passengers and aircraft movements up by 15.2%. By the end of 2023, Athens saw about 28.17 million international and domestic passengers. This is a 10.2 % increase from 2019.
In the second half of June 2018 Emirates added an extra daily flight from its base in Dubai Airport using the Airbus A380 superjumbo, marking the first time the "superjumbo" operated at the airport with a scheduled flight for a long period of time. The A380 service was continued until the end of August 2018.
== Terminals ==
=== Overview ===
The airport currently has two terminals, the main terminal and the satellite terminal accessible by an underground link from the main terminal. It is designed to be extended in a modular approach over the ensuing years in order to accommodate increases in air travel. These extensions are planned in a six-phase framework. The first (and current) phase allowed the airport to accommodate 26 million passengers per year. When the airport originally opened, the current phase called for a capacity of only 16 million passengers per year; however, the capacity was able to increase without progressing to the next phase thanks to advanced IT logistics. The sixth and final expansion phase will allow the airport to accommodate an annual traffic of 50 million passengers, with the current layout leaving enough space for five more terminals to be added. As such, the parallel runway system currently in place has been designed to accommodate flight traffic with this high equivalent annual passenger load upon completion of the final expansion phase.
=== Main Terminal ===
The main terminal building handles all intra-Schengen flights, as well as several non-Schengen flights. All of the airport's 144 check-in desks are located in the Main Terminal and it has three separate levels, one for arrivals, one for departures and a food court level complete with a view of the eastern runway. Finally, the terminal is equipped with fourteen jet bridges and eleven belt conveyors for luggage.
* Hall A is used for flights to Non-schengen countries and Non-European countries.
* Hall B handles flights to Intra-schengen countries as well as domestic services.
In March 2018, the Athens International Airport issued a tender for its first physical expansion, concerning the south wings of the main terminal. The tender called for a building expansion with a total area of approximately 14,950 square meters over five levels (levels 0 to 4). The construction company to build the expansion has been awarded in summer 2018 and the project is scheduled to be completed by mid-2019. It will add 18 more counter check-in decks as well as additional space for arrivals, departures, security and automated control gates, it will also add expanded shopping area and new lounges by mid-2020.
=== Satellite Terminal ===
The satellite terminal has two levels, one for arrivals and the other for departures. It is easily accessible through an underground link complete with moving walkways. The terminal is equipped with ten jet bridges and is capable of handling annual traffic of six million passengers.
In recent years its parking stands were utilized for long-term storage of airliners, specifically two ex-Olympic Airways Airbus A340-300s (both aircraft were transferred to its new owner in February 2017) and a Boeing 767-300ER of defunct Greek start-up carrier SkyGreece Airlines. However, as of June 2017, the parking space of the satellite terminal is in full use for both Schengen and non-Schengen area flights and to accommodate increased traffic. From June 2017 some low-cost carriers were using it. On 24 May 2018, the Satellite Terminal officially restarted full operations. The airlines using it are Ryanair, Easyjet, Vueling, Eurowings, Norwegian, Transavia and Transavia France, TUIfly Belgium, Brussels Airlines, Aer Lingus, Air Transat and Scoot.
== Airlines and destinations ==
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Athens Airport:
Airlines 	Destinations
Aegean Airlines 	Alexandroupoli, Chania, Chios, Corfu, Dublin, Edinburgh, Heraklion, Ioannina, Kavala, Kefalonia, Kos, Lemnos, London–Heathrow, Manchester, Mykonos, Mytilene, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini, Thessaloniki
Air France 	Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Austrian Airlines 	Vienna
British Airways 	London–Heathrow
Brussels Airlines 	Brussels
Bulgaria Air 	Sofia
easyJet 	London–Gatwick, London–Luton (resumes 7 November 2024), Manchester,
Iberia 	Madrid
ITA Airways 	Rome–Fiumicino
KLM 	Amsterdam
LOT Polish Airlines 	Warsaw–Chopin
Lufthansa 	Frankfurt, Munich
Scandinavian Airlines 	Copenhagen, Stockholm–Arlanda
Swiss International Air Lines	Geneva, Zürich
Wizz Air 	London–Gatwick, London–Luton
== Statistics ==
Athens International Airport is the largest and busiest airport in Greece. By the end of 2023, it was the 18th-busiest airport in Europe.
=== Airline market share 2022 ===
Top airlines at Athens
Rank	Airline 	Market share
1 	Aegean Airlines	44.6%
2 	British Airways	1.7%
3 	Wizz Air 	1.4%
=== Airline alliance market share 2022 ===
Top airlines alliances at Athens
Rank	Airline alliance 	Market Share
1 	Star Alliance 	50.9%
2 	SkyTeam 	5.3%
3 	Oneworld 	4.2%
4 	Non-allied carriers	39.5%
=== Passengers 2022 ===
Busiest European destinations from Athens Airport 
Rank	Destination	Airport(s) 	Passengers	Top carriers
1 	London 	LHR, LGW, STN	1,277,281 	Aegean Airlines, British Airways, easyJet, Jet2.com, Ryanair, Sky Express, Wizz Air
2 	Larnaca 	LCA 	1,013,784 	Aegean Airlines, Cyprus Airways, Gulf Air, Sky Express, Wizz Air
3 	Paris 	CDG, ORY 	876,657 	Aegean Airlines, Air France, easyJet, Sky Express, Transavia France
4 	Istanbul 	IST, SAW 	710,757 	Aegean Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, Turkish Airlines
5 	Rome 	FCO, CIA 	582,104 	Aegean Airlines, ITA Airways, Ryanair, Sky Express
6 	Munich 	MUC 	517,847 	Aegean Airlines, Lufthansa, Sky Express
7 	Frankfurt 	FRA 	491,409 	Aegean Airlines, Lufthansa
8 	Amsterdam 	AMS 	466,845 	Aegean Airlines, KLM, Transavia
9 	Milan 	MXP, BGY 	460,559 	Aegean Airlines, easyJet, Ryanair, Sky Express, Wizz Air
10 	Zürich 	ZRH 	401,000 	Aegean Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines
Busiest intercontinental destinations from Athens Airport 
Rank	Destination	Airport(s)	Passengers	Carriers
1 	Tel Aviv 	TLV 	582,545 	Aegean Airlines, Arkia, Bluebird Airways, El Al, Israir, Ryanair, Tus Airways, Wizz Air
2 	New York 	JFK, EWR 	530,276 	American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, United Airlines
3 	Cairo 	CAI 	254,889 	Aegean Airlines, EgyptAir
4 	Dubai 	DXB 	183,275 	Emirates
5 	Toronto 	YYZ 	164,336 	Air Canada, Air Transat
6 	Doha 	DOH 	159,186 	Qatar Airways
7 	Montreal 	YUL 	150,960 	Air Canada, Air Transat
8 	Beirut 	BEY 	123,977 	Aegean Airlines, Middle East Airlines
9 	Abu Dhabi 	AUH 	98,232 	Etihad Airways, Wizz Air
10 	Atlanta 	ATL 	90,948 	Delta Air Lines
Busiest domestic destinations from Athens Airport 
Rank	Destination 	Airport	Passengers	Carriers
1 	Thessaloniki 	SKG 	1,204,852 	Aegean Airlines, Sky Express
2 	Heraklion 	HER 	1,009,945 	Aegean Airlines, Sky Express, Volotea
3 	Santorini 	JTR 	1,003,572 	Aegean Airlines, Ryanair, Sky Express, Volotea
4 	Chania 	CHQ 	578,450 	Aegean Airlines, Ryanair, Sky Express
5 	Rhodes 	RHO 	567,419 	Aegean Airlines, Sky Express
6 	Mykonos 	JMK 	450,016 	Aegean Airlines, Sky Express, Volotea
7 	Corfu 	CFU 	313,429 	Aegean Airlines, Ryanair, Sky Express
8 	Paros 	PAS 	277,162 	Olympic Air, Sky Express
9 	Mytilene 	MJT 	271,895 	Aegean Airlines, Sky Express
10 	Alexandroupolis	AXD 	237,726 	Aegean Airlines, Sky Express
== Ground transport ==
=== Railway and Metro ===
A railway station is immediately adjacent to the airport terminal, accessible by an elevated walkway. Athens Metro line 3 and the suburban railway service Proastiakos run trains to and from this station.
=== Road ===
The airport is accessible by the Attiki Odos toll highway from the centre and northern Athens, Varis-Koropiou Avenue from the western part, Laurio Ave. from the South, and Spata-Loutsa Avenue from the East. A variety of parking options are available on site at the airport in three different parking lots. Located at the arrivals level, opposite the airport terminal, the airport offers short-term parking for up to five hours with 1,357 parking spaces available in lots P1 and P2. Long-term parking is located across the airport's main access road (Attiki Odos) with 5,802 parking spaces in lot P3. A free shuttle bus is available to transport passengers, while the lots are also accessible by foot to the terminal. Premium valet service is also offered at the Departures level by Entrance 3.
=== Taxi ===
Taxis are available at the designated taxi waiting area located at exit 3 of the arrivals level. Taxis from Athens International Airport to the city center have a flat rate of 40€ during the day (05:00-23:59) and 55€ at night (00:00-04:59). Limousine service is also available upon request by the inner curbside of the arrivals level between exits 3 and 4.
=== Bus ===
Four bus lines (X93, X95, X96, X97) connect directly to the Athens greater area, X95 starts from Syntagma square, X93 connects the airport to intercity bus stations (KTEL Kifissos Bus Terminal and Liosion bus terminal), X96 to Athens main port Piraeus and X97 to Elliniko metro station the Southern terminal of Line 2. Buses disembark passengers at the departures level and depart from the arrivals level between exits 4 and 5. Regional bus services by KTEL Express operate to the airport, currently connecting the airport to Rafina, Markopoulo, Lavrio, Kalyvia and Keratea.
== Other facilities ==
* Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air have their head office in Building 57 on the airport property. Olympic Air also has offices in Building 53A.
* The Air Accident Investigation and Aviation Safety Board has an office in Office 1311 in Building 11.
* The Greek fast food company Goody's S.A. has its head office in Building 14B.
* Sofitel Hotel
* Retail Park
* Two robotic systems, named Hercules and Ulysses, are used by the airport for the handling of potentially dangerous materials. They were donated by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
== References ==
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# ^ "Travelair Club / Partners Terms and Conditions." (Archive) Olympic Air. Retrieved on 6 April 2013. Under "Delta Air Lines" tab: "It is clarified that, boarding pass as well as original ticket must be forwarded as evidence to the following mail address: Olympic Air, Travelair Club department, Athens International Airport, Building 57, 190 19, Spata, Greece." Greek (Archive): "Olympic Air, Τμήμα Travelair Club, Διεθνής αερολιμένας Αθηνών, Κτίριο 57, Τ.Κ. 190 19, Σπάτα"
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# ^ "Contact Us." (Archive) Air Accident Investigation and Aviation Safety Board. Retrieved on 20 June 2011. "Address for Correspondence & Unit Address: AIR ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION AND AVIATION SAFETY BOARD Ex American Base Building 221, Helliniko Athens 167 01 GREECE" and "Board Address: AIR ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION AND AVIATION SAFETY BOARD Athens International Airport "El. Venizelos" Building 11, Office 1311 Spata 190 19 GREECE" – Addresses in Greek (Archive): "Διεύθυνση Αλληλογραφίας και Έδρα Μονάδας: ΕΠΙΤΡΟΠΗ ΔΙΕΡΕΥΝΗΣΗΣ ΑΤΥΧΗΜΑΤΩΝ & ΑΣΦΑΛΕΙΑΣ ΠΤΗΣΕΩΝ Πρώην Αμερικάνικη Βάση, Κτίριο 221, Ελληνικό, 167 01 ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ" and "Έδρα Επιτροπής: ΕΠΙΤΡΟΠΗ ΔΙΕΡΕΥΝΗΣΗΣ ΑΤΥΧΗΜΑΤΩΝ & ΑΣΦΑΛΕΙΑΣ ΠΤΗΣΕΩΝ Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Αθηνών, Κτίριο 11, Γραφείο 1311 190 19 ΣΠΑΤΑ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ" – Also " Address for Correspondence & investigation Unit Address" (Elliniko) and "Board office at Athens Airport" (Spata) – Greek: "Μονάδα Διερευνήσεων Στο Ελληνικό" and "Γραφεία Επιτροπής στο ΔΑΑ (Σπάτα)", respectively
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