Athens Airport Exceeds 2019 Levels for First Time in January
Athens International Airport (AIA) is setting the pace for 2023 exceeding 2019 figures in January for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic.
“Tourism is off to a dynamic start for 2023 in Athens. International passenger traffic at Athens Airport increased by 5 percent over 2019. We implemented the extension of the season and our 365-days-a-year tourism strategy is paying off, boosting the Greek economy,” said Tourism Minister Vassilis Kikilias this week commenting on the news.
More specifically, in the first month of year, AIA welcomed a total of 1.45 million passengers, marking an 87.2 percent increase compared to January 2022 and up by 3.9 percent compared to 1.39 million in the pre-Covid period.
Domestic traffic exceeded January 2022 levels by 59.7 percent and international traffic by 103.4 percent and were up by 1.8 percent (domestic) and 5 percent (international) over 2019.
Meanwhile, the number of flights in the first month of 2023 increased by 26.6 percent over January 2022 to 13,832 and by 1.3 percent compared to 2019.
The number of international flights was up by 32.9 percent and domestic flights by 19.2 percent compared to a year earlier and also up on 2019 by 0.4 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively.
AIA is expected to hit new highs this year welcoming flights from 14 new destinations and entering deals with several new airlines.
Overall in 2022, AIA handled 22.73 million arrivals, marking an 84.1 percent rise over 2021 but still down by 11.1 percent compared to pre-Covid 2019.