Athens Airport Highly Commended at ACI Europe Best Awards for 2022

Athens International Airport CEO Yiannis Paraschis (R) receiving the ACI Europe award for 2022.

Athens International Airport (AIA) was highly commended in this year’s ACI Europe Best Airport Awards in the ‘25-40 million passengers’ category at the 32nd ACI EUROPE Annual Congress and General Assembly that took place at the Aeroporti di Roma in Rome, Italy, on Friday.

The ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards recognise excellence and outstanding achievement across the entire portfolio of airport activities.

According to ACI Europe, this year has been characterised by both the many ways in which airports are recovering after the Covid-19 pandemic and the increasing focus on sustainability-related achievements. Airports in this section are divided into five groups, according to 2019 passenger traffic.

Winner in ‘25-40 million passengers’ category

This year’s award in the ‘25-40 million passengers’ category went to Vienna International Airport for the modernizing and redesigning of Terminal 2 and renovating the Vienna Lounge, which included the “smart lounges” and sleeping pods available for passengers inside the airport. Athens Airport was highly commended in the category.

Following are the Best Airport Award winners in the other four passengers categories:

Under 5 Million Passengers:
(joint winners) La Palma Airport and Torino Airport
5-10 Million Passengers:
Valencia Airport / Highly commended: Eindhoven Airport
10-25 Million Passengers:
Porto Airport
Over 40 Million Passengers:
Rome Fiumicino Airport / Highly commended: iGA Istanbul Grand Airport

To recognise airports’ efforts in key areas, the awards portfolio also included the following accolades:

Eco-Innovation Award:
(joint winners) Bristol Airport and iGA Istanbul Grand Airport
Human Resources Excellence Award:
iGA Istanbul Grand Airport
World Business Partner Award:
David Feldman (Managing Partner at Exambela Consulting)
Special Recognition Award:
Emanuel Fleuti (Head of Sustainability & Environment at Zurich Airport)

This year’s judging panel of the ACI Europe Best Airport Awards comprised representatives from the European Commission, EUROCONTROL, SESAR Joint Undertaking, the International Transport Forum and ECAC.