Athens Airport Responds To Article Of The Economist
The following letter of Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” is in response to the article entitled “Athens Airport – A Greek island” published on 10 June 2013 by The Economist. The article can be found here: http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2013/06/athens-airport
Subject: Your article titled “Athens airport – a Greek island”
Editor-in-chief
The Economist
12-06-2013
“Dear Sir,
Regarding the highly inaccurate and misleading article “Athens airport – a Greek island”, which was published on June 10th in the “Gulliver” / Business Travel section, please find below facts and correct information regarding Athens International Airport and the aviation market – which we would have gladly provided had we been asked.
- The Athens International Airport (AIA) is a pioneer Public Private Partnership scheme, with 55% owned by the Greek State and 45% owned by private shareholders. AIA is one of the biggest employment engines in Greece, with 15,000 employees from more than 300 enterprises working “inside the fence”, while the total number of jobs created in Greece is approximately 63,000. AIA contributes to the Greek economy by 2.14% of the GDP.
- Regarding traffic levels and the global aviation market, the superficial approach taken by the author is disappointing and highly uncharacteristic of The Economist. The aviation global map has changed with the balance of power having shifted to the east and the Chinese and Middle East hubs being well positioned to capture all Europe-to-Asia growth. It is because of this structural change that certain major carriers (i.e. Thai and Singapore) had to modify their global network, facing the “cut-throat” competition by the Middle-East carriers. In particular, traffic flows to Athens via the Middle East hubs experience an unprecedented growth, being the most resilient part of our market.
Additionally and for the sake of accuracy, Delta has resumed its scheduled operations from New York while US Airways, Air Canada and Air Transat are offering connections to North America. Please also note that Air China has been connecting Athens to Beijing since 2011. Regarding your allegations on home carriers, Aegean Airlines has already increased its operations by 8 new destinations this summer.
At the same time, it is well known that air travel is inextricably linked with the macroeconomic development and the overall economic situation of a region/country. Following a period of continuous growth of approximately 6.7% per year since the airport’s opening in 2001, passenger traffic in Athens has declined the last 3 years due to the financial crisis the country is facing, the tarnished image of the country and of the capital city of Athens and the reduced propensity to travel by the Greeks due to the austerity measures.
It is worth noting, however, that optimistic signs have already started to emerge. May ended with positive traffic growth (+2.6% vs. May 2012, +11% in international arrivals), demonstrating a moderate recovery.
- Your comments on our airport’s facilities and infrastructure are totally misleading. A fundamental part of our strategy is to offer a very high level of services and meet the highest operational standards. Indicatively, we recently completed a series of projects designed to enhance the passenger experience, including renovated bus gates, refurbished info points, Internet islands, “digitized virtual assistants” providing airport information on a 24-hour basis and dynamic “Time-to-Gate” technology to name just a few. The feedback obtained from our passengers through our dedicated Passenger Service Performance Monitoring system (annual sample of 40,000 passengers) shows a high level of satisfaction with an increasing trend over the years.
- Overall, the above are reflected in the international recognition that the Athens International Airport has gained from Day 1 and throughout its 12 years of operation on all levels of its activity, with 36 awards and distinctions. Indicatively, AIA has received the airlines’ recognition 12 times in 9 consecutive years within the framework of the Routes Marketing Awards, the biggest airline and airport networking route development forum. The most recent award was the one received during the Routes Europe 2013 last May in Budapest, in recognition of our dynamic marketing strategy and support to our airline partners – especially in light of the extremely adverse conditions that the Greek economy is facing.
In addition, it was just two days ago that AIA was honoured with the top environmental distinction for airports in the framework of ACI Europe’s Best Airport Awards. We received the Eco-Innovation Award in recognition of our efforts to enhance environmental awareness and stakeholder engagement, while managing impacts from carbon emissions, aircraft noise, etc.
- Rather than being “a white elephant”, Athens International Airport is a robust corporate entity. Continuing its track record of positive financial performance, AIA, within this adverse macroeconomic environment, posted positive financial results for the year 2012, continuing to achieve healthy profitability.
Finally, reference is made to the headline of the article “Athens airport – a Greek island”: it is only too evident that the author, regrettably, did not have, so far, the opportunity to truly experience a Greek island.
Fortunately we do and therefore, we can only consider the title as a compliment.
We look forward to welcoming you to our airport and to informing you on all issues of your concern,
With kind regards,
Ioanna Papadopoulou
Director, Communications & Marketing”