Market Analysis V: Athens Airport’s Top Markets – ITALY

Athens in the Spotlight!

Welcome to GTP Headlines’ weekly feature, spotlighting the top markets of Greece’s largest and foremost gateway.
Each week, based on exclusive facts and data of Athens International Airport, we’ll explore the markets that bring travelers from around the world to Greece through this bustling hub.

This week, we turn our attention to the Italian market, reflecting the significant role it plays in shaping Athens International Airport’s (AIA) international traffic.

One of the TOP markets for Athens Airport, the Italian market ranked 5th in terms of foreign arrivals and 3rd in direct traffic in 2023.

Direct traffic for the 1st half of 2024 is recording spectacular growth when compared to same period in 2023 at +29%. In terms of foreign arrivals (Tourism), the Italian market is stable, slightly improved by +1% to 2023.

When compared to the pre-pandemic era, the growth of direct traffic from Italy is even more spectacular, with +28% in Direct traffic.

One element of traffic that is positively contributing to the growth in the direct traffic is the connecting traffic via Athens. This traffic connects Italy via Athens to the region, which increased by 8% in 2023 when compared to the pre-Pandemic era (2019).

The additional direct capacity deployed at Athens on the Italian network increased by 32% in the first half of 2024, when compared to the same period in 2023.

Compared to the pre-Pandemic era (2019), same period, direct capacity increased by 28%.

Network Developments: 177 weekly departures in 2024
“An Italian job” – very well done!

For 2024, Athens is directly connected to 15 airport destinations with flights operated by 7 airlines – AEGEAN, easyJet Europe, ITA, Ryanair, SKY express, Volotea & WizzAir Malta – resulting in 177 weekly departures, or 25.3 daily (peak Summer season).

Current Status – Summer 2024

Back in 2019, Athens was directly connected to 14 airport destinations with flights operated by 5 airlines, offering 149 weekly departures, or 21.3 daily.

The Italian network in peak summer:

The network to Italy, is one of Athens most extensive to a single country, obviously benefiting by the proximity and attractiveness of Greece to the Italians and that of Italy to the Greeks. 

• Athens network to Italy was heavily impacted during the pandemic years (2020 & 2021). In 2021, number of Destinations, Services and Weekly departures were reduced, with the latter at half the volume when compared to the pre-Pandemic era (2019).
• However, 2 significant developments occurred in 2021 with Sky Express entering the Italian market, as of June to Rome (FCO) and in October Alitalia ceased and ITA started operations.
• In 2022, the network was enhanced with weekly departures increasing to 122, destinations to 12 and services to 21. In the Summer of 2022, Volotea inaugurated direct services to 2 new destinations, Turin and Palermo, with the latter suspended for over 2 years.
• Furthermore, Volotea reconnected Bari after a 2 year break, while Aegean offered another destination for Athens with flights to Florence. Ryanair added services to Rome (FCO) and WizzAir Europe added services to Milan (MXP).
• In the Summer of 2023, the network recovered to its pre-Pandemic (2019) size and further enhanced, offering 14 direct airport destinations, 7 airlines operating in the market, operating 24 services resulting in 148 weekly departures.
• It was the time of Sardinia to be connected directly to Athens, receiving 2 direct routes with Volotea operating to Cagliari and Aegean to Olbia.
• This Summer (2024) the network is further enriched, to its highest size yet,  with 1 New Destination, +5 services and a total of +28 weekly departures (compared to 2023).
• Volotea inaugurated a direct route to Ancona and added service to Naples, Ryanair added services to Bari and Milan (MXP), while Aegean added service to Palermo and easyJet Europe to Venice. ITA added one more daily frequency to Rome (FCO), now offering 4 daily flights.

Passenger traffic evolution

Compared to pre-Pandemic (2019), direct passenger traffic grew by 7% in 2023 and is increasing further by 29% in 2024 (vs. 2023).

The enhancement of the direct network and increase in available capacity resulted in 152 thousand additional direct passengers, in the Winter months (November 2023 to March 2024 versus November 2022 to March 2023).

Direct traffic from Italy is spread in a number of Routes and Rome is not the dominant point.

Share of traffic from Milan (MXP, LIN & BGY) is increasing, from 25% in 2019 to 35% in 2023 and 34% so far in 2024. Bologna is the 3rd strongest route accounting for 8% of the total Italian direct traffic, followed by Naples with 6% in 2023.

Despite the vast network of destinations, services and weekly frequencies to Italy, Indirect volumes from Italy are significant with 53 thousand passengers (one-way) traveling via other airports to Athens. Based on global travel data (IATA) for 2023, Rome (FCO) is leading the way, followed by Munich and Zurich.

In addition, connecting traffic from Italy via Athens to the region, significantly increased by 8% (vs. 2019), with intra Greece connections accounting for 69% of this market.

Passenger demographics:
The Italian traveler for Athens

Travelers from Italy are having “ the time of their lives” in Greece. They travel mainly as Couples, or with friends with an average age of 40 years.

Main characteristics

Occupation: 75% in private sector.
Length of stay: 8 days in Greece with only 3 days to be spent in Athens.
Trip purpose: Holidays (80%), showing a higher percentage of business travel (9%).
Stay: They stay mostly in hotels (68%) and Airbnb’s (10%)
Activities: Italians prefer activities related to entertainment, nightlife, shopping. They particularly love Greek cuisine.
Favorite destinations: Above all is Paros (27%), with Crete (15%) and Naxos (9%) to follow

Evaluation of Athens: 78% said that the city experience was above their expectations
Revisit Athens: 74% stated that they will revisit during 2024

Future opportunities: additional capacity & enhanced connecting options via Athens

(a) Because of the significant volume of Indirect traffic, there is a huge opportunity for airlines to further increase capacity on existing routes.
(b) Improved connecting offerings from Athens to the region will further boost the connecting traffic flows further.

View also:

Market Analysis I: Athens Airport’s Top Markets – UNITED STATES

Market Analysis II: Athens Airport’s Top Markets – UNITED KINGDOM

Market Analysis III: Athens Airport’s Top Markets – GERMANY

Market Analysis IV: Athens Airport’s Top Markets – FRANCE