Greece was the only destination in Europe which saw an increase in air ticket bookings for the summer months compared to 2019, as reported Financial Times article. In particular, bookings to Greece for the period June – August 2023 increased by 10% compared to the corresponding period of 2019. For the same period, air bookings to other important tourist destinations in Europe saw decreases ranging up to and around 15%, as for example in Italy, France and the United Kingdom.

In total, according to data from Athens International Airport, in the first eight months of 2022, passenger traffic at Eleftherios Venizelos Airport increased by 27.3% compared to 2022 and by 8% compared to 2019, reaching 18.67 million passengers. In the eight months, domestic and international passenger traffic exceeded the levels of both 2022 by 21.2% and 30.3% respectively, and 2019 by 10.6% and 6.9% respectively.

In the summer months, the traffic at “Eleftherios Venizelos” had a significant increase compared to the corresponding period of 2019 and 2022. Specifically, from June to August, the airport received 9.5 million passengers, increased by 17.2 % compared to 2022 and by approximately 10.5% compared to 2019.

In the summer, Athens International Airport handled half of the total visitors of this year’s eight months, i.e. about 18.7 million. In absolute numbers, July was the best month for the airport, with the number of about 3.3 million. of passengers to exceed by 1,515 people the passenger traffic in August this year.

In August, passenger traffic reached 3.3 million people, up 15.5% from last year and 8.4% from 2019. Both domestic and international passenger traffic exceeded 2022 levels by 12.2 % and 17% respectively. Compared to 2019, domestic passengers and international visitors to Spata Airport increased by 11.6% and 7% respectively.

Aircraft traffic also showed high performance, with the 161.5 thousand flights in the eight month increased by 13.3% and 4.7%, compared to the corresponding period of the years 2022 and 2019. In August, the number of flights was of the order of 28,000, a size increased by 9.7% and 4.3% compared to the same month last year and 2019.