Athens International Airport has just entered the Top-20 European airports list with new passenger traffic records

Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” celebrated yesterday its entry into the Athens Stock Exchange, but it still has another reason to celebrate as it entered the top 20 busiest airports in Europe. More specifically, according to Wikipedia data, Athens International Airport secured the 18th position in the list of busiest airports in Continental Europe in 2023.

In 2023, the statistics show that Heathrow Airport in London came in first place with 79.15 million passengers, followed by Istanbul Airport with 76.23 million passengers in second place, and Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris in third place with 67.42 million passengers. Rounding up the top five are Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam with 61.88 million passengers and Barajas Airport in Madrid with 60.22 million passengers.

In positions 6-10, we have airports from the major Western European markets. In sixth place is Frankfurt Airport with 58.35 million passengers, in seventh is El Prat in Barcelona with 49.9 million, in eighth is Gatwick in London (the only city with two airports in the top 10) with 40.89 million, in ninth is Fiumicino in Rome with 40.54 million passengers, and rounding out the top ten is Munich Airport with 37.03 million passengers.

In positions 11-15, we have some interesting presences. In 11th place is Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow with 36.6 million passengers, in 12th is Lisbon Airport with 33.64 million passengers, in 13th is Orly Airport in Paris with 32.29 million, in 14th is Dublin Airport with 31.9 million passengers, and in 15th is Palma de Mallorca Airport with 31.1 million passengers.

In positions 15-20, we will also encounter Athens International Airport. Specifically, in 16th place, we find Vienna Airport with 29.53 million passengers, in 17th is Zurich Airport with 28.88 million passengers, in 18th is Athens International Airport with 28.17 million passengers, in 19th is Manchester Airport with 28.1 million passengers, and in 20th place is Stansted Airport again in London with 27.96 million passengers.

The presence of Athens International Airport among the 20 busiest airports in Europe is clearly a significant success for the country, as it highlights Greece through the traffic it generates and establishes Athens as a major city-break destination with great potential.

Yesterday’s entry of Athens International Airport into the Stock Exchange also certified the airport’s new era, where the masterplan has already been announced, outlining three distinct phases through which the airport will expand until 2045.

Starting off 2024 with a record-breaking pace

Regarding passenger traffic, statistics for the month of January are already available. According to these, Athens International Airport recorded a double-digit increase of 10.7% compared to January 2024. This initial statistic indicates that the airport’s momentum is quite significant, and it remains to be seen how it will evolve in the coming months.

Overall, in January, we had a new record with 1.6 million passengers, compared to 1.44 million in 2023. Of these, 1.11 million were international passengers. Here, we see an increase of 12.8%, as last year saw 989 thousand international passengers in the first month of the year. It’s worth noting that for the first time in the airport’s history, the number of international passengers exceeds one million in the month of January.

Similarly, there was an increase in domestic passengers with 486 thousand in January. Considering that last year we had 457 thousand passengers, the increase reached 6.2%.

Aegean Airlines is naturally the carrier that can be best described as the largest contributor, as it is by far the most significant airline at “Eleftherios Venizelos” Airport.