With passenger traffic soaring, Athens International Airport ramps up expansion plans

The Athens airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” appears to be heading full speed toward implementing a larger expansion, as all indications suggest. The dynamic increase in passenger traffic, which has reached 24.5 million passengers in the first nine months of the year, representing a 13.3% increase compared to last year, leaves little room for a phased implementation of the airport’s expansion plan.

According to forecasts from knowledgeable sources, this year’s passenger traffic is estimated to exceed 31 million passengers. In the worst-case scenario, this would mean three million more passengers compared to 2023, which closed with 28.17 million, setting yet another all-time record.

These figures surpass the initial estimates for the projected growth of the airport’s traffic, upon which the timeline for the expansions was based. It’s worth noting that the original estimate for the planned first expansion involved an investment of around 650 million euros.

Sources with knowledge in the aviation sector told ypodomes that this rapid growth will eventually slow down, and a more moderate trend will return. However, with Athens International Airport reaching nearly 31 million passengers this year, even a modest increase of 3-5% in 2025 would surpass the key milestone of 33 million passengers, which was the target for the airport’s first major expansion.

This adds to the fact that the tender for the main project has not yet been announced, which could be interpreted—although it cannot be confirmed at this time—that there is a possibility of moving toward a larger expansion package for “Eleftherios Venizelos” airport. This would enable the airport to handle up to 40 million passengers annually.

How is the progress of the expansion’s development advancing?

For now, according to available information, the contractor for the design of the expansion has been selected, involving a consortium of foreign consulting-engineering firms that also operate in Greece. At the same time, the tender for the project’s manager is underway and has attracted some of the largest domestic and international consulting-engineering firms. The selection of the contractor is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks.

For its part, the airport continues to take steps to improve passenger services, with the construction of the new multi-story parking facility and further improvement projects for aircraft parking areas set to begin in the first quarter of 2025.

At the same time, the airport aims to increase traffic during off-peak periods, such as boosting long-haul destinations. This is expected to be supported by strengthening the existing framework of targeted incentives that Athens International Airport (AIA) offers to airlines.

Additionally, starting in the summer of 2025, Athens airport will move into the “scheduled facilitated” category. This means that airlines will need to submit a simple prior notification to the flight coordination authority for their schedules.

If successful, this measure will give the airport the opportunity to plan flight schedules and available slots for airlines with greater flexibility.

How is the traffic going, is Brussels Airlines expanding its presence?

Passenger traffic at Athens airport in September 2024 reached 3.30 million, an increase of 9.7% compared to September 2023 levels. Specifically, both domestic and international passenger traffic exceeded last year’s figures by 4.0% and 12.3%, respectively.

Overall, during the first nine months of the year, passenger traffic at the airport reached 24.56 million, marking an increase of 13.3%. Both domestic and international passenger traffic showed growth, with increases of 7.3% and 16.0%, respectively.

Additionally, as was announced yesterday at a press meeting, Brussels Airlines is expanding its presence at Athens airport to operate year-round. In 2023, it transported more than 60,000 passengers, which accounts for one-eighth of the total traffic. Maintaining the flight throughout the year creates significant prospects for further growth.

As part of its summer schedule, Brussels Airlines flies to an additional eight destinations. The top three destinations it connects with Athens are Toulouse, Manchester, and Gothenburg. Additionally, through its network, it connects Greece to important destinations in Africa.

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