Athens Airport: Exceeding capacity and planned expansion stages - the financial impact

Athens Airport: Exceeding capacity and planned expansion stages - the financial impact

According to a report by www.aerotelegraph.com,
Athens Airport received almost 2.2 million more passengers than capacity allowed last year. The operating company is therefore planning a three-stage expansion to keep pace with increasing demand.

The Eleftherios Venizelos Airport in Athens, which replaced the old Ellinikon Airport in 2001, is to be expanded in three stages to cope with increasing demand. The airport is currently designed to accommodate 26 million passengers, but last year it handled 28.2 million travelers. The capacity limit is expected to increase to 50 million passengers in 2045.

In the first phase of the expansion, which began in 2018 and was temporarily stopped due to the pandemic, the terminal area is to be expanded by 81,000 square meters. New boarding areas, an expanded check-in area and a larger baggage claim area are planned. The costs for this phase are estimated at around 650 million euros.

The second phase of the expansion is expected to start in 2027, when the airport will handle 31.35 million passengers. This phase includes the expansion of the terminal, the expansion of the public road network and the construction of additional parking garages. The estimated costs are over 700 million euros.

The construction of a second terminal is only planned in the third phase, which will start with a passenger volume of 36 million travelers. This will be necessary if an increase to 38 million passengers is expected within two years. The costs for this phase have not yet been quantified.

Despite these expansion plans, there are no plans for the airport to have to acquire additional space. The plans assume that the existing runways will be sufficient as they are designed so that they can be operated in parallel.

The expansion of Athens Airport shows the increasing importance of air transport in Greece and the need to adapt the infrastructure to the growing number of passengers.

This massive expansion is also expected to have an impact on the financial market, as large investments will be made by both private and public institutions. The airport expansion could also bring economic stimulus to the entire Athens region by creating jobs and driving economic growth in the area.

Overall, Athens Airport's expansion plans are a strong indication of the continued growth of air traffic in Greece and have the potential to have a positive impact on the economy and the financial market.