Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos" (Greek: ??????? ??????????? ?????? "?????????? ?????????", Diethnís Aeroliménas Athinón "Elefthérios Venizélos") (IATA: ATH, ICAO: LGAV), began operation on 29 March 2001 and is the primary civilian airport that serves the city of Athens and the region of Attica. It is Greece's busiest airport and it serves as the hub and main base of Aegean Airlines as well as other Greek airlines. The airport is currently in Group 2 of Airports Council International (10-25 million) and as of 2014, Athens International is the 31st busiest airport in Europe.
History
Development
The airport was opened in March 2001 to replace the now-closed Athens (Ellinikon) International Airport. The airport 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.
As of 2009, a new above ground link to the midfield satellite terminal was under construction with a completion date by the end of 2010. Once completed, the complex will be used as a Schengen facility. It has two runways that are each approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) long. The airport was developed by public-private partnership with Greece holding 55% of the shares.
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.
Government Debt-crisis Impact and 2014 Recovery
The Greek government-debt crisis reduced the overall passenger traffic of the airport for six consecutive years. Continental Airlines, Thai Airways, Gulf Air and Singapore Airlines were among the airlines that ended their services to/from Athens. Delta Airlines terminated its winter scheduled service to New York City in 2012, leaving Greece without a direct connection to the United States for the first time in almost seventy years. 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 the current all-time-high of 2007.
Many airlines conducted long-haul flights from Athens, however the Greek Government Debt-crisis affected some of their plans. Moreover, due to the Olympic Airways ceasing of operations, most long distance flights' schedules start now during spring and hold up to autumn covering the summer peak season. Scheduled long-haul flights are Air China flights to Beijing, via Munich. Singapore Airlines resumed seasonal flights to Singapore and Delta Airlines offers seasonal flights to New York-John F. Kennedy. Air Canada Rouge and Air Transat flies during the summer to Toronto and Montreal while US Airways flies during the spring-autumn season to Philadelphia. Despite seasonal success and increased capacity planned for 2015, Delta Airlines will not resume year-round flights to JFK due to low winter season demand while the Doha-Athens-JFK route proposed by Qatar Airways has not started yet.
During the past few years, new Greek carriers, such as Hellenic Imperial Airways, attempted to connect AIA with North American and African destinations but subsequently failed. Currently, Greek start-up carrier SkyGreece Airlines will start all year-round flights from Athens to New Jork JFK and Toronto as well as seasonal to Montréal, and extending its network to other US cities in the near future (2016). To-date, any plans of Aegean Airlines for long distance flights have been moved to the future.
However, 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 mobility 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 Airlines and US Airways retained their seasonal schedules to/from USA with even more frequent connectivity already been scheduled for 2015.
Trends for 2015
According to current traffic statistics, total traffic for the January-September period of 2015 stands at just above 14.1 million, an all-time-record for this nine-month period, increased by 21% on year-over-year basis. In addition, over the same period, aircraft traffic exhibits an increase of 15.8% year-over-year.
Athens Greece Hotels Near Airport Video
Terminals
The airport currently has two terminals, the Main Terminal and the Satellite Terminal accessible by a foot-tunnel from the Main Terminal. It is designed to be extended in a modular approach over the ensuing years in order to accommodate the increase in air travel. These extensions are planned in a six-phase framework. The first (and current) phase allowed the airport to accommodate 16 million passengers per year. However, the airport has been upgraded to handle annual traffic of 21 million passengers without progressing to the next phase thanks to advanced logistics. The sixth phase will allow the airport to accommodate as many as 50 million passengers per year. As such, the current parallel runways have been designed to accommodate flights with equivalent annual traffic of 50 million passengers following the completion of the sixth phase of expansion.
Main Terminal
The Main Terminal Building handles the all intra-Schengen flights, as well as several non-Schengen flights. All of 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.
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. Due to traffic decrease in recent years it is was not used often and its parking stands were used for the long term storage of airliners, specifically two ex-Olympic Airways A340s and usually a B767 belonging to the Greek start-up carrier SkyGreece Airlines, which initiated operations in May 2015. However, the satellite terminal opened again in May 2015 for Schengen area flights and to accommodate increased traffic; Volotea, Niki and Germanwings are some of the airlines using the terminal.
Second Terminal
A second, independent terminal on the north side of the airport had been discussed back in 2007, when the airport had reached the all-time-high of 16.5 million passengers. In 2015, rising passenger numbers with projections exceeding the 2007 record, provide the reason to start talks again for a new terminal. Such new terminal will allow the airport to handle well above 21 million passengers per year. If built, it would be served by an extension of the suburban railway and the metro as well as new car parks and bus lines. Currently, the cost is unknown, since there have been no new studies.
Airlines and destinations
Scheduled Flights
Charter
Cargo
Statistics
Athens International Airport is the busiest airport in Greece. During 2014, it was the 31st busiest airport in Europe, handling traffic of approximately 15.2 million passengers.
Annual traffic statistics
2015 traffic statistics
Busiest passenger routes by country
The table below shows passenger totals at Athens International Airport by country destination during 2014.
Routes
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 by exit 3 of the arrivals level. 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, the intercity bus stations (KTEL Kifissos Bus Terminal and Liosion bus terminal) and Piraeus. 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.
Accidents and Incidents
- On 14 August 2005, Helios Airways Flight 522, a Boeing 737 was a schedule passenger flight of Helios Airways that crashed into mountain north of Marathon and Varnavas 40 km from Athens. All 115 passengers and 6 crew on board the aircraft were killed. With 121 fatalities, this is the deadliest aviation disaster in Greek history.
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