Athens Airport Sees Rise In International Arrivals This Summer

Photo:DanMcLean

Athens International Airport (AIA) saw a 6.5 percent rise in international arrivals (destination and transfer passengers) during the May-August 2013 period compared to last year, according to data released by the airport.

“The arrival of 1.7 million foreign visitors during the summer confirms that the Greek capital is recovering its attractiveness as a tourism destination,” the airport commented. Destination passengers to the Greek capital increased by 11.6 percent compared to the same period in 2012.

The overall passenger traffic at AIA during the summer amounted to 5.3 million passengers, down only by 1.3 percent compared to last year that was mainly due to the reduced travel demand of  Greek passengers ( -12.4 percent).

A significant portion of the increase in the summer’s arrivals stemmed from the United Arab Emirates (69 percent) and non-European Union countries (22 percent) with Switzerland (41 percent) and Turkey (27 percent) in the lead.

Moreover, arrivals to Athens from transatlantic destinations such as Australia, Canada and the United States also showed an increase of 19 percent, 45 percent and 9 percent respectively, data from AIA showed.