Athens Airport Soars into Europe’s Top 10 for Flight Volume in 2024

Athens International Airport (AIA) achieved a spot among the top 10 airports in Europe with the highest number of commercial flights in 2024, according to data released by Eurostat.

Ranked eighth, AIA recorded 268,301 flights, surpassing Vienna’s Schwechat Airport while falling just below Rome’s Fiumicino Airport. This figure represents an 11 percent increase compared to 241,605 flights in 2023. Of the total flights, 158,913 served the international network, while 109,388 catered to domestic routes.

European rankings

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol topped the European rankings in 2024 with 484,000 commercial flights, followed by Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (463,000 flights) and Frankfurt Main Airport (437,000 flights). The list continues with Madrid-Barajas Airport, Barcelona Airport, Munich Airport, Rome Airport, and Athens Airport. Vienna and Dublin Airports complete the top 10, with approximately 250,000 flights each.

In total, 6.7 million commercial flights were recorded across the EU in 2024, reflecting a 5.8 percent increase from 2023. However, this figure remains below pre-pandemic levels, which reached 7 million flights in 2019.

Charter flights

Athens Airport stands out among the top 10 for its significant proportion of non-scheduled or charter flights, accounting for 5.5 percent of its total operations. This is higher than Vienna Airport (4.6 percent) and Madrid Airport (4.5 percent).

Across the EU, charter flights represented 8.7 percent of total flights in 2024, with the summer months, particularly July, seeing a peak at 10.7 percent.

Athens Airport sees record passenger traffic in 2024

In 2024, Athens Airport achieved a historic milestone, exceeding 30 million passengers for the first time. Total passenger traffic reached 31.8 million, a 13.1 percent increase from 28.17 million passengers in 2023. The international network accounted for 22.4 million passengers, reflecting a 15.7 percent year-on-year growth.

New routes for 2025

Looking ahead, airlines are expanding their connections with Athens this year. Indicatively, American Airlines is set to launch a route between Charlotte, North Carolina, and Athens in June 2025. Additionally, United Airlines plans to increase its flights between Greece and the U.S. by 30 percent, raising its weekly Athens service to ten flights from seven.