| Athens International Airport "Elefthérios Venizélos" Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Αθηνών "Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος" |
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| Logo of Athens Airport | |||
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| Aerial photo of AIA | |||
| IATA: ATH – ICAO: LGAV | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner | Greek Government | ||
| Operator | Athens International Airport S.A | ||
| Serves | Athens, Greece | ||
| Location | Spata, Greece | ||
| Hub for | |||
| Elevation AMSL | 308 ft / 94 m | ||
| Coordinates | 37°56′11″N 23°56′40″E / 37.93639°N 23.94444°ECoordinates: 37°56′11″N 23°56′40″E / 37.93639°N 23.94444°E | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 03R/21L | 13,123 | 4,000 | Asphalt |
| 03L/21R | 12,467 | 3,800 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2009) | |||
| Passengers | 16,225,885 | ||
| Aircraft operations | 210,000 | ||
| Cargo | 122,195,965 kg (120,266 LT; 134,698 ST) | ||
| Sources: Passengers[1] Flights[2] Cargo[3] | |||
Athens International Airport (Greek: Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Αθηνών, Diethnís Aeroliménas Athinón) known as "Elefthérios Venizélos", Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος) (IATA: ATH, ICAO: LGAV), which began operation on 29 March 2001, is the civilian airport that serves the city of Athens and the region of Attica. The airport is the major hub and base for Olympic Air, as well as for Aegean Airlines. The airport serves more than 16 million travellers annually and was named after the distinguished Greek statesman Eleftherios Venizelos. The airport has become increasingly popular as a gateway to Asia and the Middle East. It is also known for its continuous investment in pioneering technology, and is Airbus A380 ready, having been certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration.[4]
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The airport was opened in March 2001 to replace the now-closed Athens (Ellinikon) International Airport. The first arrival was an Olympic Airways flight from Montreal and the second one was an Olympic Aviation flight from Kythira. The first departure was a KLM flight to Amsterdam. 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 an outstanding contribution to the development of Greek aviation and the Hellenic Air Force in the 1930s.
The airport currently has two terminals: the Main Terminal, and the Satellite Terminal accessible by a foot-tunnel from the Main Terminal. As of 2009, a new above ground link to the midfield satellite terminal is under construction with a completion date by the end of 2010.[5] Once completed, the complex will be used as a Schengen facility.[5] 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 is designed to be upgraded over the ensuing years in order to accommodate the increase in air travel, and its upgrades are planned in a six-phase framework. The first (current) phase initially allowed the airport to accommodate 16 million passengers a year, but was upgraded to 21 million passengers a year with out progressing to the next phase thanks primarily to IT advances.[5] The sixth phase will allow the airport to accommodate as many as 50 million passengers a year. The current runways are designed to accommodate 50 million passengers a year with the completion of the sixth phase.[5] In 2009, the airport handled 16.225.885 passengers, -1.5% than in 2008.[6]
It is also an airport that has received approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency[4] and the Federal Aviation Administration[4] for take-offs and landings of the biggest passenger jet worldwide, the Airbus A380.[4]
It is also among the 25 busiest airports in Europe.
In 2005 and 2006, the Airport was awarded the Skytrax award for best airport in Southern Europe.
The Main Terminal Building handles the all intra-Schengen flights, as well as several non-Schengen flights. All check-in desks are located in the Main Terminal. It has three separate levels, one for arrivals, one for departures and a food court level complete with a view of the eastern runway.
The Satellite Terminal handles non-Schengen flights only. It is easily accessible through an underground link complete with moving walkways. As of 2009, part of the Satellite Terminal is closed and a new above ground link to the midfield satellite terminal is under construction with a completion date by the end of 2010. Once completed, the complex will be used as a Schengen facility.[5] It has two levels, one for arrivals and the other for departures.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Adria Airways | Ljubljana [resumes 22 April] |
| Aegean Airlines | Alexandroupolis, Barcelona, Belgrade, Berlin-Tegel, Brussels, Bucharest-Henri Coandă [ends 27 March], Cairo, Chania, Chios, Corfu, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Heraklion, Ioannina, Istanbul-Atatürk, Kalamata [begins 14 May], Kavala, Kefalonia [ends 27 March], Kos, Larnaca, Lemnos [ends 27 March], London-Heathrow, Madrid, Milan-Malpensa, Munich, Mykonos, Mytilene, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Rhodes, Rome-Fiumicino, Samos, Santorini, Sofia [ends 27 March], Stuttgart, Tel Aviv, Thessaloniki, Tirana, Venice-Marco Polo [seasonal], Vienna |
| Aer Lingus | Dublin [seasonal] |
| Aeroflot | Moscow-Sheremetyevo |
| Aerosvit Airlines | Kiev-Boryspil, Odessa |
| Air Arabia | Sharjah |
| AirBaltic | Riga |
| Air Canada | Montréal-Trudeau [seasonal; begins 4 June], Toronto-Pearson [seasonal; begins 5 June] [7] |
| Air Europa | Barcelona [begins 4 July], Madrid [begins 4 July] |
| Air France | Paris-Charles de Gaulle |
| Air Malta | Malta |
| Air Moldova | Chişinău |
| Air One | Naples |
| Air Transat | Montréal-Trudeau [seasonal], Toronto-Pearson [seasonal], Vancouver [seasonal; begins 19 June] |
| Alitalia | Rome-Fiumicino |
| ArGo Airways | Volos |
| Armavia | Yerevan |
| Athens Airways | Alexandroupolis, Chania, Chios, Corfu, Heraklion, Ikaria, Karpathos, Kastoria, Kavala, Kefalonia, Kithira, Mytilene, Preveza, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini, Sitia, Skiathos, Thessaloniki, Zakynthos |
| Austrian Airlines | Vienna |
| Austrian operated by Tyrolean Airways | Vienna [seasonal] |
| Baboo | Geneva, Nice |
| Blue1 | Helsinki |
| British Airways | London-Heathrow |
| Brussels Airlines | Brussels |
| Bulgaria Air | Sofia |
| Carpatair | Timişoara |
| Cimber Sterling | Copenhagen [begins 28 March] |
| Continental Airlines | Newark [resumes 27 May] |
| Croatia Airlines | Zagreb [seasonal; begins 1 June] |
| Cyprus Airways | Larnaca, Paphos |
| Czech Airlines | Prague |
| Delta Air Lines | Atlanta [seasonal], New York–JFK |
| Donbassaero | Donetsk |
| EasyJet | Berlin-Schönefeld, London-Gatwick, London-Luton [ends 27 March], Manchester, Milan-Malpensa, Paris-Orly, Rome-Fiumicino |
| EgyptAir | Cairo |
| El Al | Tel Aviv |
| Emirates | Dubai |
| Estonian Air | Tallinn [seasonal; begins 5 July] |
| Etihad Airways | Abu Dhabi |
| Georgian Airways | Tbilisi |
| Germanwings | Cologne/Bonn [begins 28 March], Stuttgart [begins 30 March] |
| Gulf Air | Bahrain |
| Hellenic Imperial Airways | Casablanca |
| Iberia | Madrid |
| Jat Airways | Belgrade |
| Jetairfly | Brussels [begins 2 April] |
| KLM | Amsterdam |
| Libyan Airlines | Tripoli |
| LOT Polish Airlines | Kraków, Warsaw |
| Lufthansa | Frankfurt, Munich |
| Lufthansa Regional operated by Contact Air | Stuttgart [begins 28 March] |
| Lufthansa Regional operated by Eurowings | Düsseldorf [begins 28 March] |
| Malév Hungarian Airlines | Budapest |
| Middle East Airlines | Beirut |
| Norwegian Air Shuttle | Copenhagen [begins 29 June], Oslo-Rygge [begins 28 March], Stockholm-Arlanda [begins 28 March], Warsaw [begins 30 March] |
| Olympic Air | Alexandroupolis, Alexandria, Amsterdam, Astypalaia, Beirut [ends 27 March], Brussels, Bucharest-Henri Coandă, Cairo, Chania, Chios, Corfu, Heraklion, Ioannina, Istanbul-Atatürk, Kalymnos, Kasos, Kastelorizo, Kavala, Kefalonia, Kos, Larnaca, Lemnos, Leros, London-Gatwick [ends 26 March], London-Heathrow, Milan-Malpensa, Milos, Mykonos, Mytilene, Naxos, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paros, Rhodes, Rome-Fiumicino, Samos, Santorini, Sitia, Sofia, Syros, Thessaloniki, Tirana, Vienna, Zakynthos |
| Pegasus Airlines | Izmir |
| Qatar Airways | Doha |
| Royal Jordanian | Amman |
| Scandinavian Airlines | Copenhagen, Stockholm-Arlanda [seasonal] |
| Singapore Airlines | Singapore |
| Sky Express | Sitia, Skyros |
| SunExpress | Izmir |
| Swiss International Air Lines | Geneva, Zürich |
| Syrian Air | Aleppo, Damascus |
| TAROM | Bucharest-Henri Coandă |
| Thai Airways International | Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi |
| Transavia.com | Copenhagen |
| Turkish Airlines | Istanbul-Atatürk, Izmir [begins 28 March] |
| Tunisair | Tunis |
| US Airways | Philadelphia [seasonal] |
| Uzbekistan Airways | Tashkent |
| Viking Airlines | Stockholm-Arlanda |
| Viking Hellas | Arbil, Baghdad, Manchester, Sulaymaniyah |
| Vueling Airlines | Barcelona |
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Airgo Airlines | |
| DHL | Leipzig/Halle |
| Royal Jordanian Cargo | Amman, Cologne |
| Star Air | Copenhagen |
| TNT Airways | Liège, Milan-Orio al Serio |
| UPS Airlines | Ljubljana, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle |
The airport is accessible by the Attiki Odos toll highway from the center 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.[8] Long-term parking is located across the airport's main access road (Attiki Odos) with 5,802 parking spaces in lot P3.[9] 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.[10]
Currently, all of the parking lots are exposed to the elements. As of 2009, a new 3,800 space multi-story parking structure is in the design phase and is expected to open in the summer of 2011.[5]
Taxis are available at the designated Taxi waiting area located by exit 3 of the arrivals level.[11] Limousine service is also available upon request by the inner curbside of the arrivals level between exits 3 and 4.[11]
A rail station immediately adjacent to the airport terminal is accessible by an elevated walkway. The station is served by both the Athens Metro and Suburban rail service Proastiakos. The station is connected with line 3 of the Athens Metro[12], while it is also connected to the Athens Central Railway Station (Larissis Station) and the port of Pireaus as well as to Corinth via Proastiakos.[13]
Six bus lines (X92, X93, X94, X95, X96, X97) connect directly to the Athens greater area and Piraeus.[14] Buses disembark passengers at the departures level (Kiffisos station) and depart from the arrivals level (Lionson Station) between exits 4 and 5.[14]
Regional bus services by KTEL Express also operate to the airport, currently connecting the airport to Rafina, Markopoulo, Lavrio, Kalyvia, and Keratea.[14] Passengers disembark at the departures level, and depart from the arrivals level between exits 2 and 3.[14]
Many airline users of Athens International Airport operate luxurious and modern passenger lounges. First and Business Class passengers of the respective airlines and partner alliances can enjoy lounge facilities at the airport. Airline lounges at the airport include:
The airport is equipped with two robotic systems (robots "Hercules" and "Ulysses") capable of handling suspect devices. They are designed to protect the lives of individuals as well as airport spaces by safely identifying and removing explosives.
Hercules was donated by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. It is a system capable of the safe collection and transportation of explosives for disposal. It is equipped with a spherical shaped tank with a diameter of 120 cm, and two robotic folding arms.
Ulysses is a system worth €94,000, donated by Soukos Robots ABEE. This system was manufactured in order to serve as a supplement to Hercules. It can access more difficult areas than Hercules such as toilets, buses or aircraft. It is a light but highly efficient robot, equipped with a shock-absorbing system allowing movements on rough surfaces.
  | Athens International Airport, "Eleftherios Venizelos" - Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos" |
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