CAPA Awards: AIA’s Yiannis Paraschis Named ‘Airport Chief Executive of the Year’

Athens International Airport CEO Yiannis Paraschis receives award by CAPA’s Executive Chairman Peter Harbison.

Athens International Airport’s (AIA) CEO, Yiannis Paraschis, was honoured with the “CAPA Airport Chief Executive of the Year” Award on Wednesday at the 2015 World Aviation Summit of CAPA in Helsinki, for his pioneering work at Athens Airport and his overall contribution to the international airport industry.

CAPA’s world aviation summit is the leading provider of independent aviation market intelligence, analysis and data services.

The “Airport Chief Executive of the Year” category was established this year, distinguishing the airport executive who has demonstrated outstanding strategic thinking and innovative direction for the growth of the specific airport business and the industry.

Yiannis Paraschis was selected by the judging panel as the first CEO in the 13-year history of the CAPA excellence awards, “for his ability to thrive in an extremely difficult environment”, taking into account the remarkable strategic thinking demonstrated along with the introduction of innovative approaches that made a difference by offering new directions for others to take up.

The innovative approaches adopted by AIA include its commitment to IT&T innovation, keeping the highest level of services with continuous rise in productivity and reduction of operating costs, AIA’s high rating for its carbon footprint reduction strategies within the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme and its leadership achieved in the field of airport marketing across the years.

“It is a tremendous satisfaction to see our work acknowledged internationally, positioning Athens among the model airports paving the way for the implementation of pioneer approaches and innovative practices”, Mr Paraschis said.

As the judging panel noted, under the leadership of its CEO, AIA continued to record consistent growth in passenger numbers despite the deep crisis. This was achieved thanks to targeted initiatives and programmes to support traffic development and the airport’s airline partners to the benefit of the passengers.

“Dealing with significant challenges is never a one man show. This recognition belongs to the Athens International Airport and the total of 13,000 employees from 300 public and private sector operating entities, all members of the Athens airport community”, he added.

Yiannis Paraschis has been AIA’s CEO since 2007, leading and expanding the airport through an extremely demanding period. Dr. Paraschis has also been active as board member of ACI World, serving as vice-chairman from 2009 to 2011 and chairman from 2011 to 2013.