The Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos, common initialized as AIA and sometimes refered to its IATA code of ATH, is the main Greek airport serving Athens and the region of Attica. With 20 million passengers a year, the airport is the 25th busiest airport in Europe.
Athens International Airport opened in 2001 and replaced the now closed Athens Eilinikon Airport which was unable to grow anymore. Debate about a new airport started in the 1970s and finally in 1991 the decision was made to build the US$ 2 billion airport on this location. The Greek debt-crisis has also hit the airport: airlines cut their flights and passenger numbers were down by 25 % in 2013. Last years has seen a strong growth again with national carrier Aegean Air adding many destinations and also the decision of Ryanair to make Athens Airport a hub helped as well. Total passengers has recovered and reached pre-crisis levels again.
Most flights from Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos are to Heraklion and to Larnaca but there are many more flights to other destinations as well, most of them by Aegean Airlines. These are the most popular destinations from Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos:
Heraklion (HER)
Larnaca (LCA)
Paris (PARA)
Istanbul (ISTA)
Amsterdam (AMS)
Dusseldorf (DUS)
Malaga (AGP)
