Athens Airport Posts Double-Digit Growth In September Passenger Traffic

Athens International Airport. Photo: GTP

Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” has reported a 23 percent surge in passenger traffic for September, with the figure hitting 1.62 million passengers.

Data released by AIA showed increases in both domestic and international passengers of 25.8 percent and 21.5 percent respectively.

During September, Greek travelers increased significantly by 26 percent, while foreign visitors, with Athens as their exclusive destination, increased by 24 percent.

During the January-September 2014 period, the data showed an increase in passenger traffic by 19.4 percent to 11.67 million, which is an increase of 1.9 million passengers compared with the same period in 2013. International passenger traffic increased by 20 percent during that period, while domestic traffic was up by some 18.3 percent.

According to the AIA, the surge in passenger traffic is attributed to a series of key factors such as the economy’s recovery that resulted to more Greeks traveling (11 percent rise in the nine-month period), the increased attractiveness of Athens as a destination (the number of foreign visitors to the Greek capital grew by 30 percent since the beginning of the year) and to the significant increase in the capacity offered by the airlines since the beginning of their summer flight schedule.