Athens Airport Passenger Traffic Surges to 17.62 Million in January-July

Archive photo of Athens Airport. Photo: Shutterstock

Last month, Athens International Airport (AIA) served approximately 3.61 million passengers, representing a 9.3 percent increase compared to July 2023.

In the first seven months of the year, passenger traffic at Athens Airport rose 14.6 percent to 17.62 million, up from 15.37 million during the same period in 2023.

Data from AIA reveals that between January and July, international passenger numbers totaled around 12.37 million, marking a substantial 17.6 percent increase over 2023. Meanwhile, domestic passenger numbers reached 5.24 million, showing an 8 percent rise compared to the previous year.

July was a strong month for Athens Airport, which saw passenger traffic of 3.61 million (up by 9.3 percent over the same month in 2023). Both domestic and international passenger numbers exceeded 2023 levels by 5.9 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively.

January-July flights

During the first seven months of 2024, AIA handled a total of 150,344 flights, representing a 12.4 percent increase from the previous year. Domestic and international flights were up by 5.5 percent and 17.8 percent, respectively.

Known as “Eleftherios Venizelos”, AIA is Greece’s largest airport and handled over 28 million passengers in 2023. In April, AIA CEO Yiannis Paraschis projected that the airport would handle approximately 30 million passengers this year.

So far in 2024, Athens Airport has consistently shown double-digit growth rates in passenger traffic each month, reinforcing expectations that Greek tourism will achieve another record high this year.

Notably, in the first half of 2024, AIA recorded a 24.5 percent increase in passenger traffic compared to pre-pandemic 2019, the highest growth rate among Europe’s “Mega Airports” (those handling between 25 and 40 million passengers annually), according to Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe). AIA was followed by Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport, Lisbon Airport, Palma de Mallorca Airport, and Antalya Airport in Turkey.