Athens International Airport named best in Europe

Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos" has been named best airport in Europe in the ‘Over 20 million passenger’ category, winning first prize at the Routes Europe 2019 awards held in Hanover on Tuesday.

Greece's airport in the Greek capital won against substantial airport competition from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Norway and Russia, following a vote exclusively by airlines, which reward excellence in aviation worldwide.

In the same category, Brussels airport won the second prize, while top contenders also included the airports of Copenhagen, Munich, Oslo (Gardermoen) and Moscow (Vnukovo).

This year's jury also lauded Greece for an impressive 11% growth of passenger traffic in 2018, with more than 24.1 million passengers.

At the same time, the Athens hub introduced 62 new routes this past year and welcomed 4 new airlines. Volotea and Ellinair also set up base in Athens, while Ryanair started 21 connections and Aegean Airlines 15 new routes, while another 13 companies increased their activity on 34 routes.

Commenting on the award, Athens International Airport Communications & Marketing Director Ioanna Papadopoulou said the distinction was particularly important as it came from airlines themselves.