Athens Airport Receives ACI Europe ‘Best’ Award for Resilience and Sustainability

Athens International Airport (AIA) is among the winners of ACI Europe’s Best Airport Awards 2023, an annual event organized to recognise excellence and outstanding achievement across the entire portfolio of airport activities.

The Best Airport Awards winners were announced on the sidelines of the ACI Europe/World Annual General Assembly, Conference and Exhibition that took place Wednesday in the MNAC – National Museum of Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.

The Best Airport Awards are an opportunity to recognise excellence, top achievements and thought leadership across an entire range of airport activities and for airports of all sizes and profiles.

As the industry continues to shape its vibrant, post-pandemic future, this year’s awards have emphasised key topics such as sustainability, innovation, operational efficiency and resilience. The awards are divided into five groups based on 2019 passenger traffic (under 5 million, 5-10 million, 10-25 million, 25-40 million, and over 40 million).

Athens Airport receives applause

Athens International Airport (AIA) was announced the winner in the “25-40 million passengers” category.

According to ACI Europe, Athens Airport received strong praise from the judges for its focus on operational resilience and its bold corporate sustainability strategy.

“With an impressive ambition to be net zero by 2025, its innovative ‘ROUTE 2025’ strategy aims to produce energy on‑site using photovoltaics to cover 100 percent of the airport’s electricity needs,” ACI Europe said.

Brussels Airport and Avinor Oslo Airport were also highly commended in the “25-40 million passengers” category.

Highly commended: Brussels Airport in the “25-40 million passengers” category.

Highly commended: Avinor Oslo Airport in the “25-40 million passengers” category.

Following are the Best Airport Award winners in the other four passengers categories:

Under 5 Million Passengers:
(joint winners) Madeira Airport and Menorca Airport
5-10 Million Passengers:
Milano Linate Airport
10-25 Million Passengers:
Helsinki Airport / Highly commended: Porto – Francisco SA Carneiro Airport
Over 40 Million Passengers:
Rome Fiumicino Airport / Highly commended: iGA Istanbul Grand Airport, Barcelona El-Prat Airport and Madrid-Barajas Airport

Winner: Best Airport Over 40 Million Passengers pax – Rome Fiumicino Airport.

An additional five special category awards are also given to honour outstanding performance in the areas of Accessibility, Digital Transformation, Eco-Innovation, Human Resources and World Business Partner.

Accessible Airport Award:
Alicante Airport
Digital Transformation Award:
Prague Airport / Highly commended: Rome Fiumicino Airport
Eco-Innovation Award:
Gatwick Airport / Highly commended: Vienna International Airport
Excellence in Human Resources Award:
Bologna Airport / Highly commended: Prague Airport
World Business Partner Award:
Smiths Detection (selected for its active participation in the Aviation Security Committee’s work for over a decade)

The winners and highly commended airports were selected by an expert panel of judges comprising representatives from Aviation Advocacy, ECAC, the European Commission, Flight Global, International Airport Review, the International Transport Forum and SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking.